Venture south of the river in London and there's a more-than burgeoning design scene. East Dulwich is a map of independent workshops and storefronts, while the railway arches of Deptford Market Yard provide a home for fresh-faced creative businesses. It's in these two bustling communities, filled with design-savvy students and escaping commuters, that city garden centre and houseplant emporium Forest London has set up shop.
If the owners know two things, its south east London and foliage. Mother-daughter duo Fran and Alice Bailey have lived in East Dulwich, with its famed network of green spaces and parks, for the best part of three decades, and have been ‘selling flowers forever', says Fran. They established her first retail outlet – The Fresh Flower Company – first, before setting up Forest London Dulwich in 2013, after noticing that ‘houseplants were becoming popular again’. The Deptford Market Yard outpost followed last year.
Ceropegia Woodii, Forest London’s Plant of the Month, July 2018
Fran attributes the upswing in houseplant-loving to London's city centre garden deficit, and a new generation of interested consumers. ‘Students and young people are looking for an alternative way of getting a green fix,’ she explains. ‘They are also increasingly aware of the health benefits associated with having living plants in their homes. They are buying plants not only for their aesthetic benefits but as air purifiers too.’
The shops themselves are well-designed adverts for what plant life can do for our interiors. The Market Yard store, reaching high into the railway arches, is a greenhouse-like cavern of dripping green. Heavy concrete pots bubble over with ferns and jungle climbers; while cacti shards seem to sprout from the walls. The air is avocado-sweet and smells verdant and healthy.
It's a pleasant spot for a peaceful afternoon of terrarium making – or calligraphy, if that's your thing. Forest London offers a range of workshops (including candle making and flower arranging) – an area it's currently expanding in; as well as its growing its stock of pots, skincare and homeware, from brands like House Doctor, Aesop and Nkuku. As we've seen with many young, London studios – take Bonds of Hackney for example – Forest London is becoming a fully-realised ‘lifestyle' offering; a bespoke, bijou department store filled with carefully chosen items.
But Forest London will stay firmly rooted in plants, as that's what the Bailey's best know and love. They carefully handpick each exotic offering themselves, and are extremely keen to impart their green-fingered wisdom on novice plant owners. What's more, Fran has forestry in her blood (her father was a grower in Holland) and she plans to continue the legacy he started. Long live this horticultural haven.
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Forest London website
-
An architect’s own home offers a refined and leafy retreat from its East London surroundingsStudioshaw has completed a courtyard house in amongst a cluster of traditional terraced houses, harnessing the sun and plenty of greenery to bolster privacy and warmth
-
Finlandia Hall bistro blends culinary indulgence with reborn modernismFinlandia Hall bistro opens in Helsinki, adding a foodie dimension to the Finnish modernist architecture marvel by Alvar Aalto
-
Reimagining remembrance: Urn Studios introduces artistic urns to the UKBridging the gap between art and memory, Urn Studios offers contemporary, handcrafted funeral urns designed to be proudly displayed
-
‘It feels almost alive’: This rare Judy Kensley McKie ‘Leopard Couch’ could be yoursDesigner Judy Kensley McKie’s 1983 ‘Leopard Couch’ will be auctioned at Phillips; one of her first fully realised sculptural furniture designs, it’s a zoomorphic delight
-
First look: Step inside a Tatjana von Stein-designed show apartment at 60 CurzonThe Mayfair development has launched its second show apartment, imagined by interior designer du jour Tatjana von Stein. Wallpaper* gets a first look at the Art Deco-inspired space
-
Find interior design inspiration at Eba’s new Marylebone showroomEba, a specialist in kitchen and living room design, brings its elevated interiors to London’s Marylebone
-
‘London: Lost Interiors’ gathers unseen imagery of some of the capital’s most spectacular homesThis new monograph is a fascinating foray into the interior life of London, charting changing tastes, emerging styles and the shifting social history of grand houses in the heart of a fast-changing city
-
Anglepoise and National Trust look to Britain’s coastal landscape for a new blue lighting collectionAnglepoise and National Trust announce their third lighting collection, Neptune Blue
-
Designer James Shaw’s latest creation is a self-built home in east LondonJames Shaw's east London home is Filled with vintage finds and his trademark extruded plastic furniture, a compact self-built marvel
-
Art’otel Battersea opens with immersive interiors by Jaime HayonAn exclusive tour of Art’otel Battersea, the first UK opening from the group, located opposite the Battersea Power Station and featuring immersive interiors by Jaime Hayon
-
Ælfred: the new east London destination for vintage Scandinavian designÆlfred opens in Hackney Wick, offering democratically priced Scandinavian furniture, lighting, ceramics and glassware
