Founder and Design Director, Heatherwick studio

Thomas is a globally-celebrated, visionary designer and fierce advocate for bringing joy, interest and humanity to our cities. Over the past 30 years he has designed soulful new districts, cultural landmarks and transport infrastructure across six continents, and now also campaigns to stop the epidemic of harmful, boring buildings that surround us all. These ideas are captured in his bestselling book ‘Humanise: A Maker’s Guide to Building Our World’, published worldwide in multiple languages and editions. Thomas founded his studio in 1994 to bring together architecture, urban planning, product design and interiors into a single workspace. It has become one of the most inventive and diverse creative organisations on the planet, whose work is characterised by its originality and impact, and is supported by 10 creative partners and a team of 250 people. The studio seeks to design public projects which embrace and celebrate the complexities of the real world.

From their studios in London and Shanghai, the team is currently working on over 30 projects in ten countries, including Seoul’s Nodeul Island; London Olympia; a new school for sustainable design in Bogotá; a mixed-use neighbourhood in Miami; and Singapore’s Changi Airport’s Terminal 5 in collaboration with KPF.
Previous projects include Azabudai Hills, a new neighbourhood in the centre of Tokyo; Little Island, a floating public park and performance space in New York City; Google’s first ground-up campus in California; the London 2012 Olympic Cauldron; the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town; and Xi’an CCBD, an astonishing new retail district in China.
Thomas and his team also run one of the largest educational programmes of any single art or design company in Britain, inspiring young people aged 10-14 to see themselves as creative.

Thomas has been appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, a Royal Academician and in 2004 became the youngest Royal Designer for Industry. He is a leading global campaigner and lectures widely, including TED talks and broadcasts.

© Credits photo Raquel Diniz