The Final Entry Deadline for Architizer's 2025 A+Product Awards is Friday, January 24. Get your brand in front of the AEC industry’s most renowned designers by submitting today.
Rarely does biophilic design and acoustics intersect. This year, CSI Creative combined these two ideas with their Clay Pot Bio-Acoustic Plant Wall, which earned the prestigious Architizer A+ Popular Choice Award. This innovative product redefines how interior spaces can inspire, connect and promote well-being. Drawing from the cultural richness of handmade clay pots found in African and Central and South American traditions, at the core of the Clay Pot Wall is a commitment to sustainability and human-centric design.
As part of CSI Creative’s broader Acoustic Greenery category, the Clay Pot Wall exemplifies the firm’s innovative approach to integrating advanced materials with botanically inspired aesthetics. In this interview, Ruben Perez, Director of Studio Design at CSI Creative, shares the story behind the Clay Pot Bio-Acoustic Plant Wall and the groundbreaking Acoustic Greenery category. With over 40 years of experience in the design-build industry, Ruben brings a wealth of knowledge and passion to his work, driven by the belief that exceptional design enriches lives. Join us as we explore how CSI Creative is shaping the future of interior design through products that inspire connection and elevate the human experience.
What inspired the creation of the Clay Pot Bio-Acoustic Plant Wall, and how did the cultural influence of handmade clay pots shape its design and functionality?
It all began with the creation of our EARTH collection. The goal was to showcase, through our products, the diverse influences of the countries located between the Tropics (spanning the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, at approximately 23° latitude). This region is home to an incredible variety of cultures, languages and ecosystems, as well as an unparalleled richness in colors, textures and forms.
For our Clay Pot Bio-Acoustic Plant Wall, we drew inspiration from the handcrafted terracotta pottery of Nigeria, reflecting the rich culture and traditions of the Nupe people in Africa.
The Clay Pot Bio-Acoustic Plant Wall emphasizes a blend of natural aesthetics and acoustic performance. How does it balance visual appeal with technical innovation?
The design seamlessly integrates natural visual elements with high-performance acoustic design, which absorbs and reflects sound. This approach creates a harmonious blend of color, texture and functionality within built environments.
Sustainability is a key aspect of this product, from its materials to its recoverable attachment system. How does the Clay Pot Wall exemplify CSI Creative’s commitment to eco-conscious design?
Our multidisciplinary CSI Creative team is committed to designing and manufacturing sustainably oriented products. From material selection to manufacturing methods, and a 100% recoverable and reusable installation system, our Clay Pot Wall reflects our dedication to sustainability.
The design incorporates a Soundcore (Recycled PET Felt)sound-absorbing backer, paired with PoshFelt (Premium 100% renewable, premium designer wool felt) “pots” that are both functional and environmentally friendly. These “pots” house Inherently fire-retardant ThermaLeaf greenery, offering an innovative category of biophilic design, which combines, a mix of renewable, recycled materials and one of the various forms of botanically-accurate greenery found in CSI Creative’s collection of acoustic greenery architectural finishes, called “Earth.”
What has been the response from clients and the design community to the Clay Pot Bio-Acoustic Plant Wall?
We felt like a family-owned “David,” in a market of publicly-funded Goliath’s (and their acquired brands), betting that this new product category, Acoustic Greenery, offered solutions that the A&D community had not specifically demanded, but would. It felt scary, audacious, exhilarating and a bit crazy, to be honest.
Winning the 2024 Architizer A+ Award (Popular Choice. Acoustics Category) exploded interest and sales of Acoustic Greenery ceiling wall products. To cite one notable direct result, one of the most globally recognized high-end retail brands discovered us through the related Archtizer publications, and ended up adding us as one of their brand standard manufacturers in North America.
Acoustic Greenery represents a revolutionary approach to combining greenery with advanced acoustic solutions. What motivated CSI Creative to pioneer this category, and how has the industry responded?
The “seeds” of motivation leading to CSI Creative’s creation of the “Acoustic Greenery” product category, were nurtured by Minneapolis-based Plantscape Inc. HQ’s spatial design, intended to promote “cross-fertilization” across its three brands, with all departments housed under a single roof with minimal organizational or spatial barriers in the back manufacturing zones or the front office desk workers, to maximize collaboration and learning.
Everyone from architects, industrial, interior designers, engineers, marketing designers and data analysts, and all sales reps, manufacturing, horticulturalist and botanists interact all day, everyday.
Given the abundance of living and proprietary thermaleaf and permaleaf replica trees and plants on-site, it didn’t take long for the seeds of acoustic greenery to germinate, but it took some time to figure out how to make it easy to specify, for Division 9 subcontractors to install, etc.
We really wanted our “coming out” collection, Earth, to express our passion for design, our unique offerings of material and skill combinations, our internal cultural diversity, and our mission to remove the unnecessary frictions preventing A&D from leveraging their superpowers to make the world a better, more sustainable, humane place through design.
In short, it was not only about access to certain proprietary materials, but more about how Plantscape Inc.’s core belief about the power of design, became self-filling prophecy, in which the internal spatial and organizational design at Plantscape Inc.’s HQ, germinated and nurtured the seeds of innovation, transforming 50 years of experience with materials, multidisciplinary complex design and engineering challenges from two Plantscape brands, into a third, newest one, CSI Creative.
Our Design Studio draws from Plantscape Live’s mastery of living plant system integration (including sophisticated irrigation, drainage, and maintenance systems), Plantscape Commercial Silk’s engineering prowess in large-scale replica installations (incorporating structural, electrical, plumbing, and communications infrastructure through massive indoor trees), and everything in between — from preserved natural
elements to hybrid solutions.
This deep expertise stack means we understand how to:
- Engineer solutions that satisfy complex structural loads and building codes
- Integrate technical systems seamlessly into biophilic design
- Combine living, preserved, and replica elements for optimal performance
- Execute large-scale, multifaceted installations in prestigious spaces worldwide
When paired with our proprietary technologies — PoshFelt premium wool felt (178 colors + custom colors), Soundcore acoustic substrate (proven commercial performance), and ThermaLeaf (inherently fire-retardant, multi-species botanical elements) — this engineering foundation enables our Design Studio to conceptualize and execute solutions that transcend typical acoustic treatments.
From Disney parks to La Guardia Airport to luxury retail environments, our track record of complex installations demonstrates an unmatched ability to merge acoustic performance with sophisticated biophilic design at any scale.
What are the biggest challenges and opportunities you’ve encountered when designing modular systems that incorporate both biophilic and acoustic elements?
We knew that no matter how aesthetically impressive our innovation was, success hinged upon overcoming the natural resistance to innovations that don’t neatly fit into pre-existing ‘boxes” and routines. Our goal was to make it easy for architects and designers to specify “acoustic greenery” products, and to ensure we shipped products pre-assembled for “dummy-proof” installation.
As commercial clients struggle to entice workers back to the office, one of the biggest opportunity is the huge demand for biophilic design solutions, and now specifiers and their commercial clients have an entirely new way to specify botanically-accurate greenery into ceiling and wall systems, which heretofore, usually was left to the end client when adding the FF&E.
A second opportunity is the growing demand for modular solutions.
How do CSI Creative’s patented technologies, like ThermaLeaf and Soundcore, set your Acoustic Greenery products apart in terms of safety, aesthetics and performance?
Acoustic Greenery wouldn’t exist without the patented technologies of ThermaLeaf, PoshFelt and Soundcore, years of testing, prototyping and manufacturing have led to a viable design solution that stands apart from conventional and uninspiring market options. Acoustic Greenery products combine layers of tested materials with diverse manufacturing technologies, resulting in a vibrant collection that excels in both design and performance.
Acoustic performance is a growing consideration for designers and architects. In what ways does Acoustic Greenery contribute to healthier, more productive indoor environments?
Using Biophilic Design principles as a guiding framework, and well known scientific research demonstrating the health, performance and productivity benefits of biophilic design, we developed our Acoustic Greenery collection with the goal of creating products that ultimately benefit the health and wellness of the end user. As designers, we remained consistently mindful of ‘Nature of Space,’ ‘Nature in Space’ and ‘Nature Analogues’ as key elements in shaping healthier and more productive interior environments.
Looking ahead, how do you see Acoustic Greenery evolving, and what role does CSI Creative aim to play in shaping the future of biophilic and acoustic design trends?
When we first launched Acoustic Greenery, we took a calculated risk, believing designers were seeking solutions that hadn’t yet been articulated — where acoustic performance could truly harmonize with biophilic design.
The enthusiastic response from innovative A&D firms has not only validated this vision but pushed us to explore even bolder frontiers. The integration of metal into our material portfolio marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter.
Imagine the possibilities when visionary designers can combine structural elements with our acoustic and biophilic expertise to create installations that seem to defy physics — massive suspended trees with integrated lighting, technology and building systems elegantly concealed within. This is just the start.
The most exciting part isn’t just what these technologies enable, but how they can amplify the creative visions of the architects and designers who are reimagining commercial spaces. Whether it’s an A&D firm pushing the boundaries of workplace design or an in-house team crafting an unforgettable brand experience, our role is to expand their palette of possibilities. We provide the engineering expertise, material innovations and multidisciplinary knowledge that helps turn their boldest concepts into reality.
While we continue to provide proven acoustic solutions for everyday commercial needs, we’re most energized by partnerships with firms who share our appetite for innovation. Together, we’re not just solving acoustic challenges — we’re creating immersive environments that change how people experience space itself.
Follow in the footsteps of Sentech and other innovative brands by entering this year’s A+Product Awards and receive major industry recognition from architects and designers worldwide:
The Final Entry Deadline for Architizer's 2025 A+Product Awards is Friday, January 24. Get your brand in front of the AEC industry’s most renowned designers by submitting today.
