The Bristol

The Bristol’s offices were designed by Drimia in warm plaster, dark wood slats and brass. Lit panels sit behind the sign and at the head of the conference rooms and the boardroom, each with a brass-edged ledge below it. The ledges, the lounge and the corridors all needed greenery that stays as it looks on the first day, with no watering, no daylight and no service visits.

The ledges are long and shallow and sit under bright light, in full view of the entrance and of every meeting. The lounge and the corridors are open, with stone floors and pale walls, so the planting there had to stand on its own without crowding the seating or the walkways.

We planted the ledges with preserved ferns, eucalyptus and ivy, loose enough to trail over the brass edge, so each one reads as a single band of green under the light. In the lounge and the corridors, preserved plants stand in tall tapered white planters and low white bowls, set beside the armchairs, at the conference room doors and at the corridor corners. A round piece of preserved moss and ferns adds one more texture.

Green now runs through The Bristol at two heights: along the lit ledges at eye level, and in the white planters on the floor. All of it is preserved, so none of it needs water, daylight or a maintenance contract.