From biophilic intent to maintenance: what a Kytom greening project involves

A green wall is installed for the opening-day photo, then six months later everyone discovers a yellowing panel that no one is maintaining: a failed greening project costs twice, once at installation and again at replacement. The gap rarely comes down to the plant and almost always to three trade-offs neglected upstream: actual light exposure, the maintenance approach genuinely committed to, and the consistency between the intended use and the species chosen.

Kytom treats greening as a full-fledged fit-out package, designed and delivered in Design & Build alongside the other trades. From the light audit to the maintenance or rental contract, our teams weigh living versus preserved plants according to the use of each area: reception, open-plan floor, meeting room, terrace. Since 2006, this integrated approach has served more than 1,200 office projects.

Our offering in practice

Four calibrated answers for every area of your offices

A Kytom greening project breaks down into four components managed under a single project management, so that greenery responds to the real use of each space rather than to a uniform decorative intent. Plants and compositions brings together maintenance-free preserved plants, bespoke compositions calibrated to the available light, and the maintenance or rental contract that guarantees lasting performance. Reception and lobby greening treats the entrance hall as the first proof of your employer brand, under flow and safety constraints. Plants and acoustics uses preserved moss and lichen to complement an acoustic correction plan, with measured rather than promised performance. Office terraces and patios makes the outdoors usable once the two obstacles of load capacity and waterproofing are cleared.

The Kytom method

Five stages, from the light audit to maintenance

Our process structures the project into five phases. The use and light audit measures actual illuminance with a lux meter area by area, records humidity and exposure, and frames the intended use with your teams. Biophilic design weighs living, preserved and mixed options, draws the layouts and selects species compatible with the available light and the accepted level of maintenance. Specification locks down containers, substrates, watering systems and, for the outdoors, the waterproofing and load-bearing arrangements validated with the structural engineering firm. Coordinated installation fits into the schedule of the other trades, with a dedicated site manager. Maintenance or rental takes over at handover, with a visual performance commitment and a visit frequency set to the species in place.

Your benefits

Quality of work life, image and asset value

The presence of greenery in the office works on three levels. On quality of work life first: several field studies associate biophilic environments with a greater sense of well-being and concentration, an increasingly decisive argument in the battle over the return to the office. On image next: a green reception and living floors signal an employer brand and reassure visitors and candidates alike. On asset value finally: greenery contributes to the "nature" and "well-being" credits of the WELL, HQE, BREEAM or OsmoZ standards, a lever appreciated by asset managers in a revaluation phase. Incidentally, certain preserved moss and lichen installations provide genuine acoustic absorption, addressed in our dedicated component.

Going further

Green partitions, biophilic design and completed projects

Greening works hand in hand with other areas of expertise. Green partitions extend the approach by dividing space with living plants, and biophilic design embeds nature into the architecture from the very first sketch. For a concrete illustration, the Greenaffair project shows how these principles translate onto a delivered floor. Finally, as soon as reverberation comes into play, our acoustic correction expertise takes over from greenery.

Frequently asked questions

Living or preserved plants: how do you decide?

The lux meter largely decides. Below 800 sustained lux, a living plant withers or requires costly horticultural lighting: preserved plants then become the obvious choice, with no watering or light. Above that, and where the use justifies the living touch, natural plants regain the advantage. Most of our floors combine the two depending on the area.

Do you need a maintenance contract, and at what frequency?

Every living plant has one or eventually dies: the frequency ranges from a monthly visit for robust foliage to a weekly visit for a hydraulic green wall. Preserved plants, on the other hand, only require annual dusting. We set the contract to the species actually installed, not to a generic package.

Does greening count towards a WELL or HQE certification?

Yes, on the credits linked to nature and well-being: WELL rewards the integration of living plants and views of nature, HQE and BREEAM reward quality of use and biodiversity, OsmoZ targets quality of work life. Greening alone is not enough, but it feeds into several items of the standard being pursued.

05 — Inspirations