When Palo Alto Networks set out to build a brand new flagship campus, they called upon Habitat Horticulture to design and install living walls in three of the four buildings. Spanning nearly one million square feet and housing 5,000 employees, this is the company’s new U.S. headquarters, and it was vital that it not only be energy efficient (it is certified LEED Silver) but also that it be an ideal work environment for its staff. The company rightly understands the value of plants and their psychological effects – the way they can enhance well-being, creating spaces that are more conducive to innovation and successful teamwork.

For this project, Habitat Horticulture wanted to ensure that each of the three walls would have its own distinct look and feel but use similar plants throughout for a sense of continuity. Throughout the campus the walls complement the interior’s warm tones and clean lines, creating a calm space where staff can breathe and relax. For the wall set in the building’s cafe – the intent was to create a simple composition using only four different species of plant that would engage the eye using variations on repeated patterns. Another wall employs a backdrop of Philodendron cordatum, a hardy climbing plant with a rich dark green color, and adds movement with the larger, bright green Philodendron ‘Moonlight’ alongside the silvery grass-like leaves of the Chlorophytum comosum.