Continuing the Gold Leaf Award winners in this year's Awards, we take a look at Urban Planters scheme 

Gold Leaf Award

Urban Planters

Project:1 Arlington Place 

The tender brief was to bring the outside in to a new atrium at a multi-use office in the heart of Bracknell. This was 7 months in planning while we worked closely with Construction &
Shopfitting Ltd from the start to look at all the issues.

The external courtyard in the centre of the building was to be covered over to make it an internal hub. The design was to embrace the outside area it once was, with the use of a range of wooden built in beds and structures.

The building used to wrap around an external courtyard. In 2023 this was transformed into an inside space to make a year-round usable hub having a treehouse and café at the centre. The brief was to keep the outside charm with planting to compliment the wooden featured spaces in this area, and to make a relaxing place to meet, work and relax.

Consideration was given to how to best to fill the areas with a range of planting to create a unique green environment. At the heart of this atrium the design included a tree house plus trees to be incorporated within the area to an overall height of 5m; the café was also to have a built-in unit to hold a tree to a height of 5m.

This was the core of the proposal where we considered all options of the type of trees to use. We looked at live versus replica and eventually settled on replica options to prevent the possibility of leaf fall in the café and treehouse; this was complemented with live planting to every other location which gives a seamless marriage of the planting.

There were 7 bespoke planters being incorporated in the scheme within the hub and reception areas and we had to look at the best way to make them watertight. We used bespoke fibreglass lining on site provided by Koberg. They took a one and a half days to carry out this work and it ensured we could be confident on the plants having the best foundations to thrive once planted.

Our considerations between live and replica planting were bounced about for some time. We wanted live trees, but because of the way they needed to be part of the final structures, the complexities of regular maintenance, cleaning and leaf drop and the distance from the roof, we decided that replica would be to better choice. It also meant we could choose varieties of tree to be more cohesive with the exterior look.

The timing to get this installed was tight to fit in with the construction, the furniture installation and the handover of the space. We installed the replica trees first, had the glass fibre liners installed and then completed the installation with the live planting.

Other accolades
Construction and Shopfitting Ltd on behalf of the end client Chapman Taylor have had this entered into some awards already including getting to the final cut of the BCO awards and Mix awards.

Nick Smith from C&S said he was delighted with the Biophilic planting which brought the space to life. Chapman Taylor said this - Chapman Taylor | One Arlington Square

Three winning facts
The building consists of four storeys of office space that wraps around a central, previously external courtyard that has been covered with a new glazed rooflight. The space has been transformed into a vibrant and modern amenity destination for the whole building. The design embodies a strong sense of wellness and relaxation through a careful selection of materials and an array of biophilic elements. Terracotta and natural tones complement the existing buff brickwork, providing an understated palette that seamlessly blends with warm oak and rich biophilic flora throughout the building.

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