Location
Sainsbury Wellcome Centre
Fitzrovia, Central London, W1
Core Goal
Measure the impact on employee wellbeing of sensory planting combined with nature engagement.
Timeline
Six months from planning to planting to nature engagement to measurable wellbeing benefits.
The challenge
The Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour has a series of roof terraces which looked good for a couple of months of the year. The staff used the outdoor seating areas, but the gardens generated little interest and employees did not get the full nature benefit.
Bee Greener saw the potential of much more than attractive outdoor spaces. By transforming them into welcoming, sensory-rich gardens, employees could step away from their desks, recharge and connect with nature during the working day.
The vision
Our vision was to create a living workplace terrace that supports both employees and nature—transforming an outdoor space into a welcoming garden for 12 months of the year, which has tangible wellbeing benefits and increases biodiversity.
The project brought together three key objectives: to give employees a meaningful role in shaping and caring for the space; to measure whether active engagement with nature could strengthen their connection with the natural world and improve their wellbeing; to improve the quality and biodiversity of the terrace through sensory and pollinator-friendly planting;
To bring this vision to life, we:
Introduced sensory planting designed around colour, scent, texture, movement and seasonal interest
Created herb and medicinal planting with input from employees and the Brasserie kitchen
Selected plants that provide food and habitat for pollinators and other urban wildlife
The most important part of achieving this vision was the co-creation process with employees…
The process
We set out to create a stronger sense of ownership and connection through co-creating the gardens with employees. By combining sensory planting with meaningful, hands-on engagement, we gained a better understanding of what employees wanted from their space.
Fun activities such as selecting favourite herbs to grow and adopting plants provided insight into likes and dislikes and encouraged shared ownership.
The planting was designed to stimulate the senses through colour, scent, texture and movement. It also provided food and habitat for pollinating insects and other urban wildlife, creating spaces that benefit both people and nature.
The Grand Reveal
The combination of employee involvement—from helping to shape the gardens to planting, adopting plants and taking part in guided nature activities—delivered our vision of making nature an accessible part of everyday working live, and in turn, improving wellbeing.
The lunchtime Wellbeing Reset was a guided sensory nature experience designed to help participants pause, recharge and reconnect. It was so well attended and received, it will now become a regular event on the terrace.
Aside from the positive quantitative results of the trial, one of the main observations throughout the project was the increase in number of employees using the terrace and for longer durations. Also, nature connectedness was observed throughout daily behaviour. Not one day passed when we attended the terrace and we received at least one ‘thank you, for making our gardens beautiful’. Gratitude towards nature has been shown to be highly correlated with nature connectedness (Reference: Tam, 2022).
Results at a glance
Client impact
“This has totally surpassed our expectations! Bee and her team are meticulous in delivery and have created a wellbeing and nature sanctuary in central London in less than eight months! Our outside space has been transformed into a thriving area that is used and talked about by the staff. They all feel the benefit and it has sparked an interest in plants, wildlife and biodiversity with our scientists and students from all over the world. They now go outside to wind down and take in nature–a gift in central London!”