As people begin returning to the office, post-pandemic workspaces may need to feel more inviting to entice workers back. The ten examples in this lookbook show offices where plants have been used to create friendly, welcoming interiors.
Adding green plants and even trees to office interiors can help make them feel more relaxed and less just like a place to go to for work, as these ten projects show.
This is the latest roundup in our Dezeen Lookbooks series providing visual inspiration for the home. Previous roundups include mezzanines, living spaces with white interiors and peaceful Scandi living rooms.
Spacial, Canada, by Ivy Studio
Mint and burgundy are the dominant colours in this Montreal co-working space. Plants have been strategically planted throughout the minimalist space, creating a calm dark-green contrast against the deep red hues.
In the reception area, a blocky glass brick wall functions as a clean background for plants such as snake plants (Dracaena trifasciata) and striped dracaenas (Dracaena fragrans).
Office, The Netherlands, by Beyond Space
Design studio Beyond Space used a colourful grid system to design this flexible office interior in Amsterdam, which also features several large potted plants that liven up the interior's strict geometries.
A large devil's ivy (Epipremnum aureum) and other climbing plants make the most of the grid, climbing up and down the beams in the space that was designed to be strict and playful at the same time.
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Second Home, UK, by Cano Lasso
The sunny tangerine colour of the floor in the London Fields branch of Second Home contrasts against the collection of plants sat on a bed of soft moss or hanging from the ceiling in the centre of the room.
Designers Cano Lasso created white winding desks surrounded by low corrugated partitions to create a quiet, focused atmosphere. Cork panels suspended from the ceiling help with the acoustics and, along with the plants, give the room a more organic feel.
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Kojimachi Terrace, Japan, by Nendo
Japanese studio Nendo designed this 11-storey office block with plant-filled balconies to "let the outside in." Office workers can enjoy balconies designed as timber-lined pods, filled with large plants and small trees.
On the three top floors, the balconies have been aligned to create a "Sky Forest" where people can come to enjoy a peaceful hideaway.
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Synchroon, The Netherlands, by Space Encounters
A property developer in Utrecht, The Netherlands, was given a jungle-like office interior designed by architecture studio Space Encounters.
Tropical plants including golden cane palms (Dypsis lutescens) have been planted in partition walls all throughout the office to create leafy partitions instead of traditional boxed-in office spaces. The walls are clad in clean white tiles in a grid pattern, creating a symmetrical contrast to the wild greenery.
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Second Home, Portugal, by SelgasCano
Lisbon's oldest food market was transformed into a co-working space for Second Home in Portugal, which has retained something of the market aspect with its abundance of potted plants and trees – more than 1,000 were added to the space.
The workspace was also designed to be one of the greenest buildings in Europe, with a radiant heating and cooling system that was fittingly based on greenhouses.
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This office in Minsk, designed for gaming company Vizor, reinterpreted the existing Soviet-era architecture in the area to create a more modern interior that nods to the past.
Walls and ceilings have been painted in a bold red colour, which enhances the green of the hanging plants that decorate the space, including the hanging sword fern (Nephrolepis exaltata.)
Lenne office, Estonia, by KAMP Arhitektid
KAMP Arhitektid created an office space inside a former factory in Estonia that features artificial five-metre-tall trees and angular wooden rooms, for a workspace that feels like a "bright summer forest."
The trees, among them birch, are made of real tree trunks and artificial leaves and branches. "A week after the trees were crafted a small real fresh branch with little leaves started growing on one of the trunks as if to add to the visitors' confusion," architect Jan Skolimowski said.
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Siersima Interiur office, The Netherlands, by Beyond Space
This office and showroom for a fabric studio in Amsterdam doesn't just have one kilometre of fabric draped across it, it is also filled with large plants such as fiddle-leaf figs (Ficus lyrata) and dwarf umbrella trees (Schefflera arboricola).
The diaphanous fabric lets lighter filter through, creating a partly shaded atmosphere for the plants and a peaceful, calm interior.
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Bakken & Bæck office, Norway, by Kvistad
Office interiors don't have to be completely covered in plants to feel more homely – in this office in Oslo, Norway, the tonal workspaces have been complemented by strategically placed potted plants.
In a circular work nook covered in soft red fabric, plants including succulents, a pinstripe calathea (Calathea sanderiana) and a coleus (Coleus solenostenom) take advantage of the light from the large window. Their terracotta pots match the warm red tone of the surrounding room.
Find out more about Bakken & Bæck office ›
This is the latest roundup in our Dezeen Lookbooks series providing visual inspiration for the home. Previous roundups include mezzanines, living spaces with white interiors and peaceful Scandi living rooms.