With more than 25 years of experience leading urban infill developments, institutional campuses, and regional public parks from concept to completion, Terence Lee has a deep belief in power of landscapes to shape how people inhabit and experience the world.
Terence’s design philosophy, defined by precision and rigor, was developed through years of collaboration with some of the field’s most celebrated practitioners. He has also gained valuable insights into his craft by working abroad. Most recently, he spent a year in Abu Dhabi. Working alongside global teams in one of the world’s fastest-growing cities deepened his knowledge of designing across climates, cultures, and scales. It also reinforced in him the belief that the most enduring landscapes are those that respond to the needs of humans and the environment rather than compete with them. He brings that conviction to Calgary, where landscape architecture has an increasingly vital role to play.
Terence is a CLARB-certified landscape architect licensed in Ontario, Alberta, and California, a USGBC LEED Green Associate, a full member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), Ontario Association of Landscape Architects (OALA), and most recently Alberta Association of Landscape Architects (AALA). He contributes actively to the profession as a writer: His “Letter From… Abu Dhabi” essay appears in Issue 72 of Ground magazine. He also served as a juror for the World Landscape Architecture (WLA) Professional Awards 2026.
What’s your favourite project you’ve worked on, and why?
Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Expansion at Stanford University, where I led the design from its inception while collaborating with the design architects and the entire consultant team. Our landscape design was deeply woven into the overall project approach as well as the architecture and interior design. The project garnered multiple awards as well as achieving the distinction of being only the second children’s hospital in the world to be awarded the highest designation for sustainability by the USGBC, LEED Platinum.
How do you hope your work positively impacts our communities and environment?
Landscape architecture has the capacity to bring communities together by crafting environments that resonate with culture, ecology, and the people who inhabit them. Great landscape architecture should create timeless and engaging spaces where the natural and built elements of the environment coexist as an active medium, and where ecological systems, cultural narratives, and built form enrich one another to create meaningful places for all to enjoy.
“Process is more important than outcome. When the outcome drives the process, we will only ever go to where we’ve already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we’re going, but we will know we want to be there.” -Bruce Mau
Bachelor of Landscape Architecture
University of Toronto