Exploring Green Design Across Europe with EILO

This year’s annual trip led by the European Interior Landscaping Organisation (EILO) took us to the vibrant city of Madrid, where nearly 100 interior landscaping professionals from across Europe and North America gathered for two days of immersive learning, sharing and inspiration.

In the lead up to the Awards Ceremony on our final night, we had the opportunity to take a deep dive into Madrid's most innovative and sustainable green spaces by attending exciting projects and insightful talks by leading plant companies. We spent time soaking in the wonderful atmosphere of the city, its vivid culture, greenery, and biophilic architecture.

Let’s take a closer look at the inspiring projects, people, and moments that made this trip unforgettable.

During our two day stay, we visited some of Madrid’s most innovative green projects, starting with where we stayed at the biophilic Inhala Hotel.

Designed by architect Felix Gonzalez Vela, this hotel features a prominent outdoor 'hanging garden' – a 1,000 sqm green wall made up of more than 2,500 plants. Visible from every floor of the hotel, the living wall not only looks visually stunning, but generates oxygen to the equivalent to what 200 people breathe a day while absorbing up to four tons of CO2 yearly. Achieving Guinness World Records for world’s largest living green wall in 2011, Vela's installation also gives back to its surroundings: the wall utilises water from the hotel's recycling system, collecting and treating water from the showers and toilets, and encourages biodiversity, even providing a home to a variety of bird life.

We spent a sunny morning walking to our first stop: CaixaForum’s 24 metre-tall outdoor living plant wall. Designed by renowned French botanist Patrick Blanc in 2007, CaixaForum sociocultural centre proudly displays the first vertical garden of its kind in Spain.

- More than 15,000 plants featuring 250 species, both native and non-native.
- Over 24 metres high and covering roughly 460 sqm.
- Approximately 50% of the water is recycled, with the rest being absorbed by plants or evaporated.
- Provides thermal insulation and helps mitigate urban heat.

A green hallmark that bridges the worlds of nature and urban architecture.
Using Blanc’s pioneering hydroponic system, the plants thrive without soil – anchored to a moist felt mat that supports their growth. An integrated irrigation network delivers water and nutrients evenly through pipes embedded at 3 different levels. Plant placement was planned in response to each species’ distinct light and humidity needs, forming a dynamic tapestry that evolves with the seasons. Representing a fusion of architecture and horticulture that reimagines the built environment as an urban oasis.

For lunch we dined underneath another impressive living plant wall – this time in the realm of hospitality spaces. The vertical garden inside Restaurante Bálamo was designed and installed in 2018 by Paisajismo Urbano, and was certainly an impressive biophilic feat at over 335 sqm.

- One of the largest interior vertical gardens in Europe.
- Over 13,000 plants make up this vast indoor plant display.
- Project installation completed in less than 2 months.

The garden brings to life the sensation of a living forest, enriching the dining space with both visual impact and a calm, inviting atmosphere. More than just aesthetics, vertical walls are ecosystems that purify the air, regulate temperature, and infuse spaces with the calm energy of nature. This is something we all experienced while dining underneath this impressive interior green wall,, redefining the way we use plants for restaurants.

During our time in Madrid, we had the privilege of engaging in a series of talks by industry experts and leading plant companies. One notable speaker was Prasannamurti Desai, the designer of Bangalore Airport hanging gardens, joining from India to discuss his world-leading design and share some fascinating details about the project.

Desai’s design has completely transformed the space, which now features over 150,000 live hanging plants representing 460 species and covering a total of 3,500 sqm of lush greenery. The project includes 500 custom-designed hanging planters, green plant walls lining the terminals, and the largest wall, Tiger Wings, serving as a consistent focal point, at almost 1 kilometre in length and hosting 15,000 plants. This is a project that is truly impressive for its scale and biodiversity, with a vision to ensure the health and continuation of the many species that are now growing at the airport.

Other suppliers, plant nurseries, and brokers were there to showcase their products, and we were excited to see the team behind Vulkaponic substrate, of which we are proud advocates. Vulkaponic is a pure mineral mix that is an eco-friendly alternative to soil. This medium is nutrient-rich, structurally stable, regulates water retention for steady growth, and is long-lasting and reusable. All of this aids plant maintenance - supporting healthier, more resilient plants in the spaces we look after.

We next had the pleasure of visiting Santander’s Headquarters – a huge campus that promotes employee wellbeing and a balance of work and leisure. The vast outdoor areas are planted with olive trees, that range from 500 to an unbelievable 1,600 years old. The trees are still producing crops of olives that are used to produce olive oil each year.
The lush Pereda Building was another highlight of our tour. Kevin Roche’s design centers on a soaring four-story atrium completed with a huge glass dome. Beneath it, a tropical forest thrives, turning the building’s core into a vibrant hub. Natural light pours in through the glass, supporting the building’s tropical landscape beneath.

- A light and plant-filled atrium that spans 4 floors.
- A dramatic dome, around 32 metres in diameter and 27 metres high.
- Surrounded by 170 hectare complex of office buildings, outdoor spaces and leisure facilities for employees.
- Outdoor space boasting over 1,200 ancient olive trees.

This lush office landscape improves air quality, enhances employee wellbeing, and supports a balanced microclimate – transforming a vast corporate complex into a healthier, more uplifting space that reflects the Ciudad Financiera project’s commitment to sustainable biophilic design.

Finally, the culmination of this trip’s inspiring tour – Europe's largest vertical gardens and green roof, on the surfaces of the M-30 motorway. This includes incredible green plant walls covering the sides of this arterial road, and green spaces built to cover some of the existing motorway. An area specifically chosen for its high traffic and urban heat exposure, the main goals included thermal mitigation, reducing pollution and lowering sound levels. The installation took half a year to complete, transforming heat-radiating, graffiti-covered walls into an aesthetically pleasing green oasis, vastly improving the local environment.

This project is made up of
- More than 3,250 sqm of a living green landscape.
- Comprising of 400 metre long vertical walls.
- A variation of 23 low maintenance plant species.
- A comprehensive monitoring system that allows tracking of changes due to local environmental conditions.

These vertical gardens provide sustainable solutions for high-density areas. The resulting living architecture fulfills vital ecological and social roles, contributing to a healthier and more eco-friendly city environment. Integrating adaptive, specific plant species, and environmental monitoring systems, they provide valuable data to inform future urban planning – establishing an important role in the future of sustainable cities.

Following our visit, the lead designers – Seville-based company Terapia Urbana – treated us to an engaging talk, sharing their experience and approach to designing the M-30 project. As they took us through the core of their green design, we learned about Fytotextile, an innovative system developed by company partners and professors from the University of Seville. Built from panels that blend layers of organic and synthetic material, it has integrated irrigation through a layer of fabric designed to absorb and distribute water evenly, and can be fully customised for different projects and environments.

This innovative and highly flexible solution to wall planting aligns seamlessly with the company's mission: to make vertical gardens a standard rather than an add-on – fully integrated into architectural design.

The trip concluded with a memorable awards ceremony with an introduction by our Managing Director William Braid, who is also co-chair of EILO. William is passionate about the future of our industry and the long-term benefits that building strong connections amongst our peers offers to our team and clients. Consistent learning and quality care are the core of our work, and he believes in learning from the best people out there and helping the growth of the wider industry.

We were honoured to take home two best project awards! Our projects One Bank Street and Uncommon Holborn won us awards in the categories for Sustainable Long-term Maintenance and the Public Vote. An incredible moment that perfectly capped off an inspiring few days of discovery, connection and green leadership.

This trip highlighted the continued evolution and impact of interior landscaping, with a strong focus on sharing best practices and reinforcing the vital role of plants in our built environments as a meaningful response to climate change. As always, EILO served as a platform not only for education but for community, by uniting designers, horticulturalists, and business leaders who are shaping the future of our industry.

Plans are already underway for the next EILO excursion, set to take place in Berlin in 2026. We’re looking forward to joining once again to learn, share, and celebrate the power of greenery with other passionate plant companies.

To learn more about how we bring this inspiration to our design and the exciting spaces we look after across London workspaces, browse our services and the sectors we work with to build life in. Whether you need rental plants, plant maintenance or bespoke biophilic office design, we’ve got you covered.