Creating colourful corners, adding innovative wall accents, disguising ships’ pillars and installing spectacular focal points are just some of the reasons German landscape design firm Dauerflora has been called upon by numerous customers and architects involved in a myriad of interior settings.
The president of Dauerflora, Barbara Bressem, believes that every room conveys a special mood and that the decoration should always reflect and accentuate this feeling.
The range of artistic talent in the team ensures that big installations, elegantly styled flower and vase arrangements and wall decorations are all created with utmost care.
Although land-based clients such as hotels, shopping malls, swimming centres and office buildings demand Dauerflora’s services, at 70 per cent it is the cruise industry that makes up the lion’s share of floral and planting projects for the Hamburg-based business.
Headed by president Barbara Bressem and her business partner, managing director and experienced gardener Dirk Ebeling, the company took on its first cruise project with AIDAcara in 1996 and has continued with every AIDA ship since. Dauerflora has also completed projects for Celebrity Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), Royal Caribbean Cruises, TUI Cruises, Sea Cloud Cruises, Star Cruises, Viking River Cruises, Carnival Cruise Lines (Magic and Breeze) and Phoenix Reisen among others, while working alongside design firms such as Partner Ship Design, Tillberg Design International, SMC Design, cm-Design, Cubic3 and Falkum-Hansen Design.
“Just as carpets and upholstery determine the image and appearance of a ship, greenery does, too,” says Bressem. “We specialise in high quality planting and floral arrangements, from the initial consultation to planning, implementation and ongoing maintenance of our installations.”
After Bressem’s parents had founded the company in 1989 she joined them in 1993, followed by Ebeling in 1999. When Bressem’s parents retired in 2005, she and Ebeling continued to expand Dauerflora’s range of decorative solutions. “When starting in 1989 we only used preserved plants, but quickly added living plants and artificial options. We work with various combinations of each, depending on our customers’ wishes and the available budgets.”
Each onboard project comes with its own unique set of challenges. The Dauerflora team includes florists, landscape gardeners, carpenters, metal workers and theatre sculptors. Together they meet the challenges in a highly professional way and translate their customers’ expectations into beautiful creations. “So when a designer approaches us and says, ‘Listen, I have this fancy idea – how do we do that?’, we are well equipped to plan the details and implement the final result,” Bressem says.
A recent example: Partner Ship Design asked Dauerflora to build an enormous olive tree of about 7m in height for the Wellness Oasis on AIDAsol as well as a mangrove tree of similar size on the AIDAmar. Bressem explains: “Sometimes we have to start the design at an unusual point. When planning the design of the olive tree the first step was to determine for safety reasons where and how the branches of the tree should be fastened to the balustrade and where the lower part of the trunk was going to be welded to the deck. After that we could start designing the complete tree. Since the parts of the olive tree were prefabricated in our workshop they had to be produced with absolute precision so they would fit the anchoring supports on the deck and at the balustrade. We developed an aluminium under construction which was covered with fire retardant bark made of a special polymer cement (according to IMO requirements). Only then was our team able to add the smaller branches and artificial olive leaves to create the impression of a perfect olive tree. I think the result is striking.”
Projects of this type require perfect organisation. Timing is crucial too, because Dauerflora’s team can only work when the ship has almost been completed. “The companies we work with usually let us know when guests will arrive because they rely on our precise timing. They know that we will have finished before the first guests set their foot onboard. So the passengers start their journey in a perfectly welcoming atmosphere.”
The giant olive tree remains a project highlight. “Built from artificial components, it looks absolutely real and creates a fantastic atmosphere, together with the cypresses of about the same height.”
The AIDA cruise vessels were all equipped with lots of palm trees – all with real, preserved palm fronds. These are, after all, living plants that have essentially undergone the horticultural equivalent of embalming.
One of the advantages of preserved plants is that individual parts can be changed – an important economic and ecological aspect. Preserved plants are even compostable.
Dauerflora also delivers fresh-cut flowers to the TUI Cruises’ ships Mein Schiff 1 and Mein Schiff 2. Bressem says: “We deliver flowers every week for every journey and help choose the onboard florists. If possible, we work with producers from around the areas the ships visit to save transport costs and consider the environment as the flowers don’t have to be flown around for long distances. We usually go to these places to find good producers and arrange the delivery before the ships’ arrival.”
It goes without saying that there is more to onboard styling than look and feel. Decorative installations must be able to withstand a ship’s motion and engine vibration, so attention to safety and stability is paramount. “We have developed a special fixing system that is screwed to the floor of the vases and planters,”
Bressem says. “This fixing system is welded to the floor at the shipyard, so no matter what size or shape, the vases remain attached and won’t tumble. Even very tall vases can be kept stable this way. The gravel covering the planting surface is mostly glued so it doesn’t spill.”
Future projects are plentiful for the firm, including the completion of the interior landscaping of AIDAstella, an order for Fjord Line’s two new cruise ferries – which will be ready in 2013 – and having been involved with nearly all NCL’s ships, the company will turn its creative attention to work on NCL’s Breakaway, followed by Getaway in 2014. Although understandably reluctant to reveal details of upcoming commissions, Bressem is happy to talk about Dauerflora’s work on the recently launched Celebrity Reflection.
“We mostly worked with living plants on Celebrity Reflection as this was the preference of Celebrity Cruises. It’s a very elegant ship. We placed a lot of fantastic buffet decorations in the Lido area and every suite has flower arrangements, while preserved and living plant combinations are in the guest relations and public areas.”
Living plants are also used outside, but will be changed as soon as the ship enters another climatic zone, such as entering Miami from Europe. Bressem explains: “Plants that are still green through October and November in Europe and stay onboard for several weeks cannot survive in tropical surroundings. So we make sure we plan ahead. We work with a nursery in the Miami area that adapts plants to sunny climates so that they can cope better with hotter temperatures and direct sun.”
In the wake of its success Dauerflora founded a subsidiary in Miami in 2009 to optimise support for its worldwide customers. Further growth is now coming from refurbishments as lines recognise plant arrangements can be altered more quickly and inexpensively than permanent fixtures. Last but not least, one of the continuing highlights of the company’s services is holiday decorations – especially for Christmas and Hanukkah. “Our customers can purchase or rent all kinds of decoration from small ornaments to huge Christmas trees and specially designed Hanukkah banners. Apart from installation and dismantle of the decoration, we offer maintenance and storage in our warehouses in Miami, Florida or Hamburg, Germany,” Bressem explains.
With the company’s specialised expertise, innovative approach and decades of experience, it is clear that Bressem and her creative team are well equipped to continue delivering on projects of all sizes – the more challenging the better.