The EG Interview: The battle against the banal

Such is the exertion required to manoeuvre the heft of the huge, timber-framed front door, one doesn’t so much step as fall into 55 Argyle Street. There is nothing quite like physically tumbling into a space to evoke a sense of entering a parallel universe and here, behind the towering façade that lines a vast chunk of the King’s Cross streetscape, lies the world of Heatherwick. The ground floor – fully visible from the street for the benefit of passers-by – says it all. Packed to the exceptionally high rafters with detail, texture and layering from the Routemaster patterned sofas to the derelict-barn inspired pavilion – incidentally, Heatherwick’s first building – it is a world entirely befitting of a man who has made his thoughts on the modern built environment, and those responsible for it, blisteringly clear. In October last year, Thomas Heatherwick, the 53-year-old designer behind structures including the UK Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai Expo, the 2012 Olympic Cauldron, the Vessel in New York and Coal Drops Yard in King’s Cross, launched a searing attack on “boring” buildings and how they make us feel. Through his book Humanise, part of a wider campaign of the same name, he has warned that we are in the midst of a “global blandemic”. That vast swathes of the buildings around us are so dull and uninspiring; they make us depressed. “I am not advocating that everywhere should be beautiful. I am advocating against total rubbishness” Thomas Heatherwick It’s an interesting stance at an interesting time, especially given his call for developers to right his perceived wrongs and recognise that building with more heart “will be a real value generator”. There is no question that Heatherwick’s language around this subject can be inflammatory. In this interview alone he wages war on “dumb environments and utterly selfish buildings that have impoverished the world”. But as flight-to-quality comes to the fore post-pandemic and the real estate sector faces increasingly stringent occupier and investor demands, could he have a point? Advocating against rubbishness Ensconced in his new studio wearing an oversized green shirt and surrounded by layer-upon-layer of brightly coloured Persian-style rugs, Heatherwick makes it crystal clear that his pursuit of, and campaign for, the widespread overhaul of boring buildings is a hill he is staunchly prepared to die on. And, so far, it doesn’t seem to have done him or the Heatherwick brand any major harm if the 450% increase in profit to £14m earlier this month is anything to go by. What he is calling for is not about beauty, he says. That’s too subjective. “I am not advocating that everywhere should be beautiful. I am advocating against total rubbishness.” It is not about everyone agreeing with him either, he adds, pointing out that people don’t have to share all of his opinions to take note of the issues he is raising. The ultimate goal for Heatherwick is starting a national conversation. One that he hopes will spark action from city planners, designers, developers and contractors to work together, guided by public opinion, to create spaces where people actually want to spend their time. On this, his opinion is particularly bold. “We have had a national conversation about race and we have had a national conversation about gender,” he says. “But we have never had a national conversation about the buildings around us.” We need one, he adds. Because, as far as he is concerned, the industry has been getting it wrong for far too long. “We have had a prevailing mindset for a long time that the public are ignorant,” he says. “That’s dangerous. The public are not ignorant. Everyone knows about buildings. Everyone has been brought up in buildings. The public might not always be articulate about it, but they have experienced buildings for as long as any trained professional and we have ignored them at our peril.” So, what exactly does the public want and what equates to “total rubbishness” in Heatherwick’s opinion? More importantly, how does he propose the real estate sector – and developers in particular – will deliver the goods? Give back to society The answer to the first part of that question, around what people want from buildings, is the driving force behind Humanise, a global campaign to “confront the public health issues caused by boring buildings and inspire the public to demand better”. Heatherwick argues that bad buildings make us ill and that we live in a society “engulfed by soulless places driven by puritanical mindsets”. He also makes the point that these buildings contribute to the climate crisis. “Good developers are engaged with where true value lies. They know it comes from giving people what they want” Thomas Heatherwick “They get demolished and replaced, and demolished and replaced, over and over again because nobody cares about them,” says Heatherwick. “And that generates extraordinary waste and massive carbon emissions. It’s construction’s dirty little secret.” To avoid rubbishness and build longevity and sustainability into the built world, people have to care about it, he says. And the key to evoking that care comes down to capturing interest. “This isn’t a niceness problem,” he says. “It’s an emotional problem. It doesn’t have to be about making everything look nice or neat and tidy. But we have stripped away so many of the elements of visual complexity from the built world since the Second World War and research is showing that our bodies actually go into stress when we are surrounded by flat, serious, plain and repetitive buildings. “There are arguments that it’s cheaper to build this way, that less is more, form follows function. But it doesn’t have to cost much to add interest, and what developer or designer out there is going to say ‘no, I don’t want my building to be more interesting?’” He goes on to argue that the sector can’t afford to ignore the power of designing with humans in mind. “When people can now stay at home, work from home, order food and deliveries online…there needs to be a reason to come into cities and the buildings within them more than ever.” As companies continue to encourage staff back to offices post Covid and cities fight for footfall, Heatherwick believes that “a necessary level of interestingness” could be the key to success. And interest, he says, can stem from something seemingly small and inconsequential. Here, he refers to two of the most Instagrammed elements of his Coal Drops Yard scheme in King’s Cross. One is the famous “kissing” roofs. The other is the lift buttons – 3D prints made from a geometric design with a different button for each lift core. “We knew that anything people were going to touch was so important. Whether that’s a door handle, a handrail or a lift button. If you make those elements tell a story, it can cost a relatively small amount of money to make something particular. And people can see and feel that someone put love where you don’t expect it.” This plays into the other major push behind his Humanise campaign, the plight of the passer-by. Given we pass by way more buildings than we ever go into, Heatherwick argues there needs to be more focus on our streets. Developers and designers can play a huge role here by creating interesting qualities on buildings at what he refers to as “door distance” – anything a passer-by could spot from two metres away. “As a developer or a business, you could say ‘why does that matter’?”, Heatherwick concedes. “But if you want to attract the best talent to your organisation you need to show what sort of values you represent. And buildings are a very big clue. What are you giving back to society? To the street? There has been such an imagination failure and there is now an opportunity for buildings to be real value generators for towns and cities. “I don’t think it is good enough to put up big sheets of glass so people can look in to see another massive marble reception desk, piano or a piece of art on the back wall. We need to be more generous. I look at these vanilla, previously inoffensive buildings that have become so offensive. I want to say, ‘how dare you put something into society at such scale that gives nothing back’.” Make your children proud There is a danger that such an outspoken approach to this campaign could distance the very developers, designers and contractors Heatherwick is relying on to help make a change. It’s true, his campaign aligns with many of the issues the real estate sector is currently facing. From the built world’s impact on mental health to social value and from decarbonisation to placemaking, it shines a light on complex problems directly impacting the value of projects, portfolios and, on a much wider scale, our cities. But is Heatherwick able to back up his strong words and stronger criticism by offering any fresh ideas or insights around how these matters might be tackled? Apart from his calls for “interestingness”, Heatherwick urges developers, planners, designers and local authorities to work more closely together – “that’s the only way there will be any real influence”. He asks those designing our buildings and spaces to see planners not as the enemy but as the voice of the public, “the other client” alongside the developer as the commissioner of the project. He calls out those who say they are constricted by costs – “no project ever has enough money”, he says. “That’s just an excuse because, actually, it is about where you spend that money. The good developers are really engaged with where the true value lies. They know it comes from giving people and the public what they want. And, for that, I feel like the public conversation is just, well, missing.” And therein lies the real power behind Heatherwick’s campaign. His voice. That, and the platform he has to make sure that voice is heard. If anyone has the profile to get a public conversation going, it’s him. Him and good developers, he says. Because they get it. And those developers who don’t? “People are smart,” he says. “Your tenants are smart. These are the people who are going to judge you. If a reticence to change is about the money then we were making human buildings 1,000 years ago, 500 years ago, 200 years ago when we were way poorer than we are now. Stop making excuses for not doing projects that would make your children or your grandmother proud.” As the interview wraps up it’s back through the distinctly non-boring studio, across those Persian-style rugs, past the barn-inspired pavilion and the Routemaster seats and out through the enormous wooden door back into the cool harshness of King’s Cross. Time in the world of Heatherwick may be up but all of the detail, texture, layering and bustle that personifies his studio space is still visible from the street, for the passer-by. And it doesn’t half capture the interest. To send feedback, e-mail emily.wright@eg.co.uk or tweet @EmilyW_9 or @EGPropertyNews Portraits by Raquel Diniz; UK Pavilion: Kpa/Zuma/Shutterstock; The Vessel: Michael Ho Wai Lee/SOPA Images/Shutterstock