Company Gardens: Green Spaces for Retreat & Inspiration
Chris van Uffelen
Creating Identity with Trees, Plants and Street Furniture
The design of open spaces around a company headquarters or within a company premises are increasingly important – and in some cases now also lucrative – fields of activity in landscape architecture. On the one hand, com - pany gardens fulfill the function of a signboard advertising the company. On the other, in times of flexible working hours, work-life balance and global networking, they are increasingly emerging as projection screens for innovative workplace concepts.
The implementations are remarkably diverse, their con - ception often depending on whether the company garden is directed to the outside world or rather designed for the employees. It can serve the public as a city park, act almost as a calling card as part of the corporate identity, be designed as a quiet oasis for breaks from work or as a place for informal meetings and collegial communication. Through selected examples of company gardens from around the world, this volume reveals the great diversity present within this field of architecture.