, Leading interior landscaping company, Indoor Garden Design (IGD), provides high quality service and design creativity. We caught up with Creative Director, Ian Drummond, to learn more about the firmand the creative solutions it provides. Bringing Nature into the Workplace Founded in 1975, IGD is the UK’s leading interior landscaper and has been bringing nature into the workplace for more than 40 years. Through its work, the firm brings nature to any environment, adapting work or leisure, education or luxury spaces, and delivering a full, expert service, including design, supply, installation and maintenance, on a contract or one-off basis. These high quality services have been provided to a wide range of high profile corporate and hospitality clients, including Sky Television, UBS, The Connaught, The Club at The Ivy, St Pancras Renaissance Hotel and Harrods. Ian outlines the approach that the firm implements in order to ensure that such renowned clients receive the service they deserve and expect. “Here at IGD, we aim for the highest of standards at all times and at every level of our business. Central to this is the fact that we invest in our team and this award is credit to each and every one of them. IGD was established as a family run business and we have always tried to keep to that ethos. Despite the growth of our business, we keep our teams small and the culture intimate, for example each team has a social fund so that every month they can choose what they want to do as a group; one month they all went ice-skating together. These things are important, not only for our staff, but ultimately for our clients. ‘Regarding the business operations, in order to work to the highest of standards, it is important to start at the beginning, so where we can, we like to be involved in projects from the earliest planning stage possible, in order that we can create planting which feels like an integral part of the building, rather than just an embellishment.” Offering this exceptional quality of service helps the firm to ensure that clients get the most out of their space and the plants in it. This is crucial and is a key part of the firm’s mission, as Ian explains. “Our overall mission is to bring nature into the workplace. Studies have repeatedly shown that having plants within the working environment is proven to be a huge benefit to both the health and the productivity of staff members and we actively promote these benefits. The great bonus to this approach is that the correct selection of plants looks amazing and can transform both the general feel and often the function of any interior or exterior space.” Looking to the future, Ian is keen for the firm to continue to provide the very highest standard of service whilst at the same time developing within the industry in order to provide the solutions their clients truly need. “Moving forward, maintaining the quality of our working service alongside innovative, creative design is critical and something we will always uphold. Last year we celebrated 40 years in the interior landscaping business and we have consistently been right at the forefront of the way that plants are perceived in the interior environment. Over the years, we have designed and managed thousands of projects, but our passion for plants, our expertise and the professionalism with which we greet each project remains unchanged. “Within the wider market, we see the industry continuing to grow into new areas. Currently we are experiencing a surge in the domestic market - after innumerable years of enthusiasm for outdoor gardening, finally plants are coming into the home. We are now designing installations for high end interiors such as lofts, apartments and houses. This is something of a passion for me; I have co-written a book with Kara O’Reilly on this subject too, that is aimed to both inspire and inform. ‘At Home with Plants’ will be published by Mitchell Beazley in April and I am looking forward to seeing it in print and finding out what our clients think.” K Company: Indoor Garden Design Name: Ian Drummond Email:
[email protected] Web Address: www.indoorgardendesign.com Address: Indoor Garden Design, Woodside Works, Summersby Road, London, N6 5UH Phone: 0208 444 1414 FM160060 Architecture & Design