floradania.dk 13/2012

Article: Plants create joy at work 
Copenhagen's new designer hotel, Bella Sky Comwell, is literally a green and pleasant place. A plant wall covering several storeys creates wellbeing and a good atmosphere among the hotel staff

The impressive plant wall adorns the hotel’s reception and lobby, and continues on the next floor, where guests and staff in the bar and restaurant enjoy the healthy and natural physical surroundings. 

Better wellbeing equals better service 
Sugasini Sooriyakumaran, press secretary at Bella Sky, is no doubt that the plants help to create a pleasant environment and make the place a positive experience for all concerned. 
“The green surroundings help to emphasise our mission of creating a sustainable, environmentally-conscious workplace with a focus on a healthy working environment. For us, it’s important that our employees enjoy being here and look forward to coming to work. It's all about providing the best service to our guests, and you can only do that if you feel good in yourself.” 
Inner peace 
George Anello works as a waiter in the hotel's à la carte restaurant on the first floor, where the plant wall is the object of great interest. 
“It's fun to see the guests’ reactions when they see the wall. It’s always a good conversation topic, which immediately creates a positive atmosphere in relation to the guests, and I feel an inner peace working in such a green environment.“
The positive effect of working in a green environment is also attested to by George’s colleague Allan Olsen, who works on the ground floor: 
“It's lovely being so close to the plants. It gives you a sense of freedom to be surrounded by nature, and it looks great.“ 
Fewer sick days 
Numerous scientific studies have shown that plants possess the ability to cleanse the air of toxic substances and thereby improve the indoor environment. Amongst other things, this results in lower rates of employee absence due to illness, and better overall staff wellbeing. 
The plant wall at Bella Sky uses the following plants: 
Asplenium
Chlorophytum
Epipremnum
Platycerium
Rhipsalis
Spatiphyllum

The plant wall at Bella Sky was designed by Deichmann Planter, Hørsholm. 

Facts:
In the Netherlands, experiments have recently been conducted into the effect of plants on twelve school classes at four different schools, with the following results: 
-	10-20% reduction in CO2 levels
-	poor air disappeared faster
-	7% fewer headache complaints 
-	20-35% improvement in performance 
Besides their ability to improve air quality, recent research has demonstrated that plants also help to improve the psychosocial working environment. A recent Danish doctoral thesis has shown a clear correlation between the use of plants and a positive view of the workplace as a social community. 
Source: Floradania Marketing

Caption: At Bella Sky, the plant wall ensures a good indoor climate