sustainable landscapes for corporate and leisure
social space as part of business units
key benefits of sustainable design
- business needs to be “seen to be green”
- lower energy costs to infrastructure (green roofs etc)
- benign environments promote greater health & motivation
- planning permission often requires sustainable design
- leisure centres need to minimise carbon footprint
- edible landscapes can increase user interaction
- staff courtyards and gardens promote positivity
- public space/entrances inspire confidence with users
golf course and leisure centre design promotes wellbeing
Environmental pressures are growing at an alarming rate, making it increasingly important - vital, in fact - for companies to develop active policies on sustainability. The landscape that surrounds offices, factories etc. can become the key focus of a corporate expression of sustainability.
Few mediums, apart from the architecture of a building, lend themselves to such eloquent expression of a companies green credentials. Indeed it can be argued, that as all human and business life takes place within the landscape, even in the most urban of places, that a “sustainable landscape” is the ultimate expression of green thinking.
We can go even further and declare that all new building developments should be seen as the creation of living bio-systems within which people operate and interact with their environment. Such thinking calls for the complete integration of architecture, landscape, energy generation and waste elimination to achieve a balanced, healthy, carbon-neutral living/working environment.
