Nature in concrete

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Since the pandemic, the entire concept of going to the office to work has come under the spotlight. Companies and employees have had to figure out the future of work. Is the traditional office space a thing of the past? Perhaps it's a combination of working from home and the office? It's still being debated.

One thing's for sure. Companies realised that traditional office spaces needed to evolve. While some basic layouts might stay the same, the design language needed to change. They needed to entice people to return to the office. How about bringing nature indoors? That's what companies like the French multinational Bonduelle did. It's an interesting trend that could pay dividends.

Biophilia

In simple terms, biophilia is a person's relationship with nature. In this context, it's the process of bringing the beauty of the natural world into the office environment.

A biophilic office design stems from the bond between humans and nature to create a nature-human connection indoors, like in offices, homes, and indoor public spaces. Generally speaking, biophilic design has three pillars - natural analogues, nature in the space, and nature of the space.

That means the interiors have natural features like plants or water fountains, natural materials, and objects that remind people of nature and being outdoors.

What Bonduelle did

A company like Bonduelle has shrewdly seen the increasing trend of sustainable spaces. For them, it's enshrined in company culture. The company is involved in the industrial transformation of vegetables, i.e., plant-based food processing.

Its three outdated offices were overflowing and couldn't seat new employees. The company decided to do something unique. It created a heat map to see where its employees lived and identify one or more locations for new offices.

The company's headquarters in Quebec, which opened in 2022, focuses on biophilia. The local design company Lemay devised the new HQ named "Station B". The design philosophy was to introduce plants and biophilic elements to make a healthier way of living, as interior designer Anthony Barbusci from Lemay put it.

Here's how it was done. Lemay's in-house landscape architecture team laid out a plant strategy. It outsourced plant care to Quebec-based Alphaplantes, which sells and maintains plants for different types of clients.

The focal point was the three-storey central staircase surrounded by plants set in wooden latticed wall cavities. The idea is to represent the office as a greenhouse. The designers opted for an open office plan that allows people and plants to coexist in an environment filled with natural and artificial light.

In addition to the natural elements, the designers used vinyl graphics displaying various plant images. To keep things varied, the carpets are in different shades of green.

In real estate, location matters. In the case of this office, it's located among the green rooftops and tree-lined streets of Brossard’s Solar Uniquartier neighbourhood.

Here are the design principles that Lemay incorporated:

• The plant and nature theme extends to the furniture, which has wooden accents to resemble rustic home furnishings. It's about making the office more homely and less rigid.
• Colour is important. Bonduelle's branding and colour scheme of yellow, green, and orange were incorporated to provide a fun and cosy ambience. They're also found in nature.
• Each level has its own centralised space to relax and collaborate. The idea is to break down silos and create connections between previously geographically dispersed teams.

Returning and attracting

In a post-pandemic world, Bonduelle realised the importance of an office environment that's unique, functional, and employee-centred. As Richard Cuddihy, the company's VP of Human Resources, put it, "We wanted people to come because they want to".

The new space has paid dividends as they meet new candidates and there's a wow factor when they come to the office. People want to come to the office because the space is welcoming.

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