Planters can, of course, enhance any environment – their greenery can soften harsh dark or even abstract décor while it can also enhance any plain façade. Then again, planters can also introduce an alternative colour source into a monotone minimalist look and the new trend for bright neon coloured planters brings dull corners out of themselves, making them positively glow.

So we’re surprised designers don’t use galvanized steel planters even more when it comes to creating commercial public spaces. One design area that seems to be divided as to their use is that of the upmarket airport first class and business lounge. These are, after all, the locations which entertain passengers travelling via some of the world’s largest and best-known airlines such as Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Virgin and British Airways.
We based our knowledge on an article by top American news agency CNN of what they considered the Top 10 airport business lounges in the world. Viewing the photographs we noticed many of the lounges had coloured planters and greenery. In fact the Quantas Lounge at Australia’s Sydney International Airport seems to have gone to extremes and looks like it houses an entire botanical gardens. It would have been much easier maintenance-wise for their poor staff to have installed a few strategically placed planters. That way the planters would have provided a dual purpose of adding to an area where everything appears to be white and grey. And yes, it’s sunny there, we know, but another colour wouldn’t have upset the balance too much we reckon.

Other airport lounges, such as the first class lounge at Abu Dhabi could definitely have done with some greenery to relieve the drabness of all that beige. Alternatively a few large glossy black planters with sand and smooth stones would have chimed in nicely with the surroundings.

Now we do like the modern, dynamic look of Lufthansa’s bright orange lounge at Frankfurt International Airport. That Satsuma shade cheers us up instantly, certainly no blandness there. However, we definitely reckon it could do with a glossy orange planter or two to take away the vastness of all that brown wooden flooring.

And the ones we like? Look how those sophisticated and smart silver steel planters with their refreshing greenery really blend in with the glass walls and roof in the Swiss Air Lounge at EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg. It has a sleekness about it which isn’t too business-like.

Another first class airport lounge design we appreciate is the simplicity of the three planters in the foreground at Qatar Airways Premium Terminal at Doha International Airport. The planter displays aren’t huge but image what the lounge would look like if they weren’t there – it would seem almost bereft. Note the two large white planters with greenery in the background too.

Design at the ultra-modern Finnair Lounge in Helsinki Airport shows how planters (spot the greenery in the background of the photo) can fit in with the clean aesthetic lines of Finnish and Nordic furniture too.

You can see the full range of planters available from our online store Precious Design.