Pflanzen-Forum GmbH – germany

Category: Small but Mighty

The Oper46 office building is located at Bockenheimer Anlage 46. Since 2020, this location has been a new highlight on the Frankfurt flex office scene.

The entire six-story property is home to small and large companies. The workspaces at FORA are spread across open-plan and private offices of various sizes. Some of the existing building\’s structures were broken up to create space for customizable private offices, coworking zones, quiet rooms, meeting rooms, kitchens, showers, and a library. Upon entering the building, you find yourself in a spacious atrium with a glass roof that floods the building with natural light. Inside, the “Spanish Steps” located centrally in the atrium lead from the ground floor to the first floor.

Like its counterpart in Rome, the staircase invites members of The Office Group and guests to linger, meet, and exchange ideas. The staircase consists of six wide steps in a row and one step on the side. The dimensions are 5x 217×82.5×14.9cm and 1x 217x44x14.9cm, and on the side 217×41.5×14.9cm. The jungle-style planting softens the clean lines and brings the large atrium to life, creating a feel-good atmosphere that invites people to linger.

Due to the low planting height, soil plants that are semi-cultivated were used in this project. The substrate used is Zeostrat. This is structurally stable and purely mineral. It is ideal for use in bed planting in a light retention system. To ensure that all plants are easily accessible for maintenance, a stepping stone was placed in the center of the substrate for each step.

From a bird\’s eye view, this is visually overgrown and not noticeable at all. The plants used are a mixture of various shrubs and climbing plants. Various Philodendron and Aglaonema varieties, as well as Dracaena. No plant lights were installed in this project. The light from the glass roof is completely sufficient for these plants. Only the side step reacts a little with weak growth.

The maintenance service has been carried out every two weeks since the beginning. First, the plants are cleaned and their health status is determined. Then they are watered as needed. After the growth period, we were able to switch to sprinkler irrigation. The amount of water per step is documented after each maintenance visit. Nutrient supply is ensured approximately 12 times a year using liquid fertilizer. We use beneficial insects to combat pests such as spider mites and thrips. However, this addition is needs-based and not permanent.

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