A bold design concept needs a practical foundation — one that connects mission and margin, creativity and feasibility. That’s why the process of integrated planning is so valuable for cultural organizations: the intentional alignment of strategy, business planning, and master planning to ensure that their vision can become a reality.
We sat down with Claire Agre, Partner and Co-Founder of Unknown Studio: a landscape architecture and urban design practice with a deep belief in the power of designed landscape to bring joy, wonder, beauty, and improved quality of life to all. Canopy has partnered with Unknown Studio on several integrated planning projects, including a recent business master planning project for Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.
Claire shares her insights on collaboration, client readiness, and the evolving role of design in shaping resilient, connected places.
Claire Agre, Partner and Co-Founder of Unknown Studio
On Integrating Business and Master Planning
Canopy Strategic Partners: From your perspective, what are the major benefits of integrating business and master planning?
Claire Agre, Unknown Studio: Most organizations have to make decisions based on financial reality. We’ve done master plans that aren’t tied to operations or revenue, and they can work in certain cases — like with a small, bootstrapped client or a well-endowed one that intuitively understands the economics.
But when a business plan is part of the process, clients feel much more confident and informed. They make decisions grounded in both mission and financial reality. That helps avoid backtracking later and ensures each step forward is based on the best information available.
There’s also value in the debate that comes from different perspectives and opinions. Our practice is really just landscape architecture — we don’t have in-house architects, historians, or ecologists — so we form project teams that bring those voices together. When someone like Zach Winfield (Canopy’s Senior VP) shares why something might be more viable financially, we can weigh that against the design priorities. Those discussions make the plan sharper.
CSP: Have you ever worked on projects where strategic and master planning processes are happening simultaneously?
CA: Yes, and it’s a very different kind of process. When an organization is defining who they are while designing what they’ll become, it’s like a full-body workout. They’re thinking through everything at once — vision, design, purpose — and that intensity can lead to really creative, aligned outcomes.
We did that at Longwood Gardens. Their strategic plan was being refreshed while the master plan was underway. It was exciting to see how drawings and design concepts could influence the wording of the mission and values, not just the other way around. Not everyone is an abstract thinker; sometimes seeing an idea visually helps shape strategic direction.
On Preparing for an Integrated Planning Process
CSP: What do you wish clients would consider or prepare before starting a business master planning process?
CA: A strong strategic plan is key: one with a clearly articulated mission, vision, and values. The project we worked on with Canopy at Naples Botanical Garden was a great example of that. They were organized and had a great internal culture and strong leadership.
We also ask early on: What’s the one thing this plan needs to achieve? You’d be surprised how often teams haven’t thought about that. Answers can range from “balanced financials” to “improved mobility” to “fixing the maintenance hub.” Whatever the answer, it tells you a lot about the client’s priorities.
It’s also important to define the planning horizon. Are we looking ten years ahead or forty? At one site we worked on in Maine, they wanted a “forever plan,” which made sense because it was more about conservation than development.
CSP: Canopy and Unknown Studio recently partnered on a business master planning process for Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. What did Lewis Ginter want to achieve?
CA: Their goal was quite specific: They were taking on an additional eight-acre property and needed to determine the highest and best use for it. They were clear that this wasn’t a billion-dollar master plan — they wanted to do something actionable on the other side.
On Trends in Master Planning
CSP: What trends are you seeing in master planning right now — for gardens, but also for cultural institutions more broadly?
CA: Connectivity is the big one. At Lewis Ginter, for example, they’re in the outer suburbs of Richmond, which makes walking or biking difficult. That automatically isolates their visitors to those who can drive and limits accessibility.
We’re pushing clients to think differently about that: to make it easy not to drive. Protected bike lanes, shaded sidewalks, clear crosswalks — these aren’t complicated ideas, but they require a shift in mindset. You can’t call yourself sustainable and still design everything around the car. It’s about creating a balance; yes, people will still drive, but let’s make it easy and safe to arrive another way.
The other major theme is climate adaptation. We’re seeing bigger storm events, warmer zones, and unpredictable weather. In landscape architecture, we’re always thinking decades ahead — how trees will look and function forty years from now. Planning with that in mind is essential.
CSP: That’s fascinating, and climate change certainly ties to how visitor behavior might shift, too.
CA: Exactly. If it becomes too hot to visit gardens in July, we may see programming flip, like evening hours instead of midday. I was at a concert at the garden recently, and it was beautiful — cooler weather, a full crowd, real community. That’s the future: adapting behaviors as well as environments.
On the Value of Collaboration
CSP: What insights can you share about the process of collaborating with business planners?
CA: Designers and business planners think very differently. We tend to make things early, to test ideas visually. The business side often wants more data before making recommendations.
But sometimes you need to just take a stab at it — to test an idea and refine it later. That’s something I appreciate about working with Canopy: there’s a willingness to engage in that early, iterative thinking. I’ll paraphrase Anne Lamott’s wisdom on writing a first draft (which is not appropriate for printing here): “You just have to start somewhere.”
When we can test and iterate together, it’s a richer process. Market analysis and financial modeling give us insights we’d never get from design alone. It’s that mix — different lenses on the same project — that makes the final plan stronger.
Learn more about Unknown Studio’s work here. Explore Canopy’s business planning services here.
