An interview with Roy Davis from PlantCare, conducted by Showcase PSR Portsdown

When the Showcase group first teamed up with PlantCare on our new HQ in Smithfield, London, it became clear that this wasn’t just another fit-out. We quickly bonded over our shared passion for bringing workspaces to life. Though, PlantCare take that pledge quite literally. What began with a few carefully placed planters has since evolved into a collaborative mission: to reimagine the spaces where we work, learn, and heal through the transformative power of biophilic design.

Let’s be honest, “biophilia” gets tossed around a lot. It’s often lumped in with words like “wellbeing,” “harmony,” and too often reduced to soft lighting and a token Ficus on a mood board. But the reality is far more nuanced, and, as it turns out, far more interesting!

Biophilic design isn’t just about making spaces look nice in the moment. It’s a long-term investment that grows with the space. Plants evolve over time, becoming integrated with the architecture and influencing both the environment and the people within it. Far from a transient trend, biophilia offers lasting health, productivity, and aesthetic benefits that can be enjoyed for years. This isn’t just about aesthetics, it’s about creating living design systems that enhance well-being over the long haul.

So when we sat down with Roy from PlantCare, we shared a clear and mutual goal: to cut through the jargon. No fluffy buzzwords, just a grounded conversation about what plants actually do for people, for productivity, and for the spaces we create.

Biophilia – A Modern Phenomenon?
“Biophilia isn’t new,” says Roy, whose team brings more than 300 years of combined horticultural experience to the field. “We’ve been putting plants into offices since the ‘80s. What’s changed is how seriously it’s taken.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the shift came post-pandemic. Our craving for greenery, which spiked in lockdown homes, followed us back into the workplace. “People got used to having plants around. So when they returned to work, the contrast was jarring. The demand didn’t just increase, it moved up the project timeline. Now it’s part of early conversations with clients and architects.”

And the stats support it. A survey conducted in 2023 found that 42% of British office workers believe the presence of plants improves air quality, 33% say it enhances their mental health and wellbeing, and 30% feel it creates a better workplace overall. These results show that a significant portion of the workforce values office greenery not just for aesthetics, but as a meaningful contributor to a healthier, more supportive work environment.

Designing for Biology, Not Just Aesthetics
When we asked Roy what separates good biophilic design from green-washing, he emphasised the importance of systems.

“Every project starts with understanding the space: light, airflow, temperature, humidity, human traffic. We aren’t just dropping in a few pots and hoping they survive. We’re designing ecosystems that complement architecture and behaviour.”

One increasingly popular strategy is built-in joinery. Across modern offices and learning spaces, we’re seeing an increase in ceiling rafts with trailing foliage, pillar wraps, living dividers, and integrated banquette planters. These aren’t decorative extras; they’re structural elements, engineered to soften acoustics, outline zones, and regulate indoor climates.

In education, the brief often shifts. “You don’t always get to use planting in classrooms, due to the flow of people and volume of traffic.” Roy explains. “So we concentrate on transitional spaces: corridors, breakouts, libraries. You want to catch the eye and calm the mind, especially in fast-paced or high-stress zones.”

Interestingly, artificial planting is sometimes used in these settings. It might sound contradictory, but in high-traffic environments where maintenance is limited, even imitation or preserved foliage can contribute to a sense of natural rhythm and form. “It’s about realism and placement. If it’s done well (and sustainably), it still serves a purpose, but it has to be appropriate.”

The Importance of Ongoing Plant Maintenance

For biophilic design to be effective in the long run, maintenance is essential. Plants require ongoing care to stay healthy, and regular visits ensure they continue to contribute positively to their environment.

The trick is to tailor the species and care of each plant to its specific environment, considering factors like light, temperature, and airflow. Whether it’s a corporate office or a healthcare setting, the key is that plants not only thrive but continue to offer their benefits, improving air quality, enhancing well-being, and creating a welcoming atmosphere – which can’t be achieved without a high level of maintenance.

In cases where live plants might not be ideal, preserved plants offer a practical solution. These plants require no maintenance but still provide a sense of nature, making them suitable for inaccessible or low-light areas. This way, biophilic benefits are sustained even in challenging environments.

A Multisensory Experience: Designing for the Senses

What’s next for biophilia? According to Roy, it’s no longer just visual. “The future of indoor planting is multisensory. Green walls are being paired with water features – not just for looks, but for sound. We’ve had clients request grasses and palms on terraces because of the way it rustles in the wind.”

It’s not just a feeling, it’s science. A study published in Ecopsychology (Benfield et al., 2014) found that natural soundscapes can significantly speed up stress recovery, helping to restore mood after stressful events – think busy corridors, meeting rooms, or hospital waiting areas, to name a few. In short, your brain listens as much as it sees. By combining calming sounds with greenery, we create workspaces that don’t just function better, but feel better, too. “Wellness rooms now frequently include plantings, but also curated soundtracks and natural textures.” The future of biophilia is about full sensory immersion, where the whole environment becomes the intervention.

Measuring the Impacts of Biophilia

The data is catching up with what designers and users have long felt intuitively.

A study from the University of Exeter found that enriched workspaces with plants can increase productivity by 15%. Additionally, the Human Spaces Report, which surveyed over 7,600 office workers across 16 countries, found that environments with natural elements contributed to a 15% increase in well-being and a 6% rise in productivity. These findings highlight the powerful impact of integrating natural elements into office design, demonstrating how they contribute to both employee well-being and performance.

And the numbers are even more compelling in healthcare. “We supply two major hospitals in Bristol with mature trees outside waiting areas,” Roy shares. “When people are stressed or waiting on news, they don’t want to stare at a grey wall. The moment greenery enters the space, the emotional temperature shifts.”

Roger Ulrich’s foundational study (1984) found that hospital patients with views of nature recovered faster, needed less pain medication, and reported fewer complications than those without. More recently, indoor planting has been shown to reduce perceived stress by up to 37%, and even lower blood pressure (Raanaas et al., 2011).

“These aren’t just plants,” Roy says. “They’re environmental signals – reminders of life, of calm, of something beyond the four walls you’re in.”

From Scheme to System

Anyone can pick out a few nice pots, but how we bring them into our workspace involves much more. It’s about thinking spatially, sustainably, and strategically.

“Cohesion is key,” Roy explains. “We tailor plant choices and placements to how each part of the space works. In quiet zones, we might use tall, leafy dividers. In breakout spaces and busier areas, it’s more about integrated displays, such as suspended planting or modular shelving. The general rule of thumb is to ‘think vertically.’ Wasted floorspace is a no-no.”

Where real planting isn’t viable, especially in schools or low-light buildings, preserved options step in. “Many public sector spaces are opting for real plants which have been treated to last – no watering, and no plastic.” Preserved planting is a great hybrid: sustainable, low-maintenance, and still biophilic in form.

Supporting Sustainability Goals

Biophilic design also supports broader environmental objectives when implemented responsibly. “All our planters come from certified suppliers,” Roy notes. “We use materials like cork, ocean plastic, and other recycled materials in our planter ranges. Hydroculture is also used across our portfolio. This is where the plants are grown in clay granules instead of soil. It reduces pests, waste, and even energy use.”

While biophilia doesn’t yet have its own category in frameworks like BREEAM or WELL, it already contributes to key criteria such as VOC reduction, humidity balance, and air quality. NASA’s Clean Air Study (1989) found that certain indoor plants can remove up to 87% of airborne toxins in just 24 hours.

Roy’s vision for the future is a universal benchmark: “We need plant certification for public buildings. Just like square meters of lighting or ventilation.”

Biophilia Isn’t a Bonus – It’s the Baseline

From rooftop vegetable pods to multisensory wellness rooms, the field of biophilic design is expanding rapidly. But at its core, it’s remains something simple: making places feel more human.

Roy puts it plainly: “We’re not selling a monstera in a pot. We’re creating living design systems. Systems that change how people behave, and how they feel. Systems that work, are sustainable and are thought out to last.”

Biophilic design goes beyond simply adding greenery to a space. It’s about creating environments that genuinely support our well-being, from the way we work to the way we heal. It’s not just about making a space look good; it’s about making it feel right, fostering productivity, health, and a sense of calm.

In a world where the boundaries between living, working, healing and learning are more blurred than ever, that kind of design isn’t a luxury. It’s infrastructure for wellbeing, backed by science, powered by nature, and made possible by smart, intentional collaboration.