Commercial & Institutional Landscape Design
We rethink workspaces by letting nature lead the design, turning sterile offices and industrial sites into living, breathing environments.
The 'Tech 37' building stands as a green landmark in its urban context. The facade, now almost completely covered by climbing plants, demonstrates my commitment to creating buildings that are living, breathing parts of the ecosystem.
A few years after completion, the facade of this tech office is thriving. The cascading plants have taken over the wire mesh framework, creating a lush green curtain that provides shade and a strong visual identity.
A closer view of the living facade at 'Tech 37'. The dense curtain of greenery softens the building's concrete structure, providing a beautiful example of how landscape and architecture can be fully integrated.
The wild has officially taken over. This image captures the sheer density of the vertical garden, a testament to a design that allows nature to express itself fully within an urban architectural project.
For this art gallery and marketing office in North Bangalore, I used a minimalist approach to the landscape. The gentle, grassy slope and the dramatic shadows cast by a nearby tree complement the clean lines of the concrete architecture.
The entrance to the 'Cumins Gallery' showcases the interplay between the building, landscape, and branding. The soft, native grasses at the base of the structure provide a natural counterpoint to the modern, geometric forms.
Even industrial sites can be softened and humanized with thoughtful landscape design. Here, sculpted earth mounds covered in grass and colorful shrubs create a playful and welcoming entry sequence next to a factory building.
A planter box filled with reddish ornamental grasses adds a splash of color and texture to this industrial building's facade. This simple intervention breaks the monotony of the building and connects it to the surrounding landscape.
A carefully designed pathway leads through a narrow space in this industrial complex. Lined with bamboo on one side and a mix of grasses and shrubs on the other, it creates a pleasant, green corridor for employees.
An internal courtyard brings a pocket of lush nature into the workplace. This top-down view shows a dense planting of various indoor and shade-loving plants, creating a refreshing green view for the offices above.
About Commercial & Institutional Environments
In commercial settings, we often work with rigid concrete structures that feel disconnected from their surroundings. Instead of fighting these forms, we integrate them by using cascading native climbers to soften facades or sculpting earth mounds within industrial compounds. This approach transforms a standard office environment into a space that breathes, reduces ambient heat, and provides genuine sensory relief for the people working inside.
When we design for commercial and institutional environments, we start by understanding the building's footprint and its relationship to the urban fabric. Whether it is a tech office facade like our work at Tech 37 or a minimalist art gallery, the goal is to break the monotony of concrete. We use native plant palettes to create vertical green screens, which not only look lush but act as natural insulation for the building. For industrial campuses, we shift our focus to the ground. We repurpose site waste, such as construction debris, into unique sculptures or feature elements, ensuring that even utilitarian spaces retain a sense of character and whimsy. We also integrate functional zones, such as outdoor break areas nestled within dense garden beds, to provide employees with a necessary connection to nature during the workday. Our approach to institutional projects is community-driven. We believe spaces should be flexible, allowing users to define how they use the landscape, from quiet reflection to collaborative gathering. We look at drainage, sun paths, and soil health with the same rigor we apply to aesthetics, ensuring that the landscape we plant today thrives for years to come.
Reading Grounds
We are Reading Grounds, a collective of designers based in Namma Bengaluru. We believe that offices and institutions shouldn't just be concrete boxes, so we design landscapes that bring nature right to your doorstep. Our process is simple: we study the land, talk to the people using the space, and build environments where you can actually slow down.
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