What's Up Docs? Doctors' Notes: Buildings
Mar 24, 2026
Lisa Finlay, architect at Heatherwick Studio who designs large mixed-use and public projects, talks about buildings that boost wellbeing and urban life. She describes Thousand Trees and the power of textured materials, planting and joyful design. Conversations cover persuading clients to invest in delight, reusing existing stock, and how design can shape social connection and public health.
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Landscape Architecture For Large Buildings
- Thousand Trees rearranges large building volume into two mountain-like peaks with ~1,000 terraces to avoid repetitive podium-and-tower blocks.
- Lisa Finlay used smaller human-scale cubes and over a thousand trees to create outdoor space and a distinct skyline silhouette.
Thousand Trees As An Anti-Tower Anecdote
- Thousand Trees avoids tower monotony by forming two peaks instead of pencil towers on the skyline.
- Lisa highlights the project's thousand terraces and over a thousand trees as a deliberate relief from copycat residential towers.
Design For Posterity Beats Short Term Savings
- Architects should weigh long-term cultural value, not just short-term cost, when designing public buildings.
- Lisa argues buildings that provoke love and care avoid becoming disposable stock that gets demolished every year.