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PHS Group plc

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PHS Greenleaf installs larger than life trees into London’s newest attraction

12 Nov 2007

Occupying the space equivalent of two old Wembley Stadiums, The Dome has been transformed into The O2 turning one of London’s most talked about landmarks into a huge entertainment venue, complete with bars, restaurants, exhibition areas and a world-class music and sports arena.

Taking almost four years to complete, the project certainly stretched the skills and imagination of one supplier in particular, PHS Greenleaf, who were commissioned to provide the interior plants and trees.

Although Greenleaf are used to large-scale horticultural challenges, having worked on projects like the Trafford Centre, Alton Towers, Bluewater Shopping Centre and Sunderland Winter Gardens, this was probably the first project to test their engineering skills more than their horticultural expertise.

The O2 has a unique and highly variable microclimate, which meant that live planting was not an option.   Poor natural light levels, fluctuating temperatures within different zones, exposure to outside temperatures in some places and sheer footfall of visitors meant that a more robust solution was needed.  And when you’re trying to fill a cavern that’s as tall as Nelson’s Column, the planting has to be large and pretty spectacular to stand out and make an impact.  

PHS Greenleaf’s solution involved lining the walkways and entertainment avenues with 12 huge replica palm trees, ranging from 9m right up to 12m in height. These spectacular palms were supplied by Treescapes International and assembled onsite by Greenleaf staff, using a 5T telehandler capable of lifting the palms 17m in the air and onto preset bolts.   The area was then sealed with resin and tree grills, enabling people to walk around the trees without damaging their bases.

Elsewhere in the building, including the entrance halls, Greenleaf planted a combination of 29 beech, birch and cherry trees ranging from 5m to 10m in height.  These were also replica trees, which were specially constructed to provide a 2m high ground clearance for pedestrian traffic. The holes for these trees were pre-set six months prior to being installed and were assembled off site and manoeuvred into position with the telehandler. These trees were supplied and constructed with the help of Greenleaf’s partners, Pouliot. 

To top it all off, over half a kilometre of replica plants were positioned on the upper balconies, again using high-level access equipment to reach the sixth storey levels.

PHS Greenleaf’s national projects manager Karen James and project manager Tony Lunn were relieved to see the project successfully completed.  "We’ve worked on some challenging installations in the past, including quite a few large replica trees and palms, but this project had to be the most difficult because it required a knowledge of structural engineering.

It took our team of six staff six weeks to install the trees plus a further two weeks of snagging. And that’s not to mention the months involved in sourcing the trees and constructing them on our premises or at our suppliers.  The end result though is absolutely stunning and well worth the effort!"

If they say The O2 is a world of entertainment under one roof, then the planting within can only be described as out of this world. 

O2-Arena-1 

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