Wonders & blunders

My wonder is Belfast City Hall. I gave a talk there recently and found it inspirational. The approach to the building is impressive, and inside there's a central reception area with a regal marble staircase leading up to balconies from where you can look down. There's also a big dome through which natural light floods in. It was light, bright, airy – a pleasure to be in.

For me, with buildings, it's not just the structure that makes an impression but the ambience, the atmosphere, the people. When I was at there, Irish folk music was being played and it permeated through all the corridors – the acoustics were beautiful.

My blunders are big industrial sheds. We talk about the UK's manufacturing industry fleeing to the Far East and it's no wonder when you think about how we treat our workforces. We put them in these ugly, angular, grey sheds with hardly any natural light – we really are keeping them in the dark. The most popular flooring product we sell to the manufacturing industry is mid-grey. Depressing.

We need to bring more nature into these sheds, just as we're doing with public buildings, bringing in natural light and plants. Our manufacturing workforce deserves it.