Heatherwick Studio
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Thomas Alexander Heatherwick, (born 17 February 1970) is an English designer and the founder of London-based design practice Heatherwick Studio. He works with a team of more than 200 architects, designers and entrepreneurs from his studio in
King's Cross, London King's Cross is a district in the London Boroughs of Camden and Islington, on either side of Euston Road in north London, England, north of Charing Cross, bordered by Barnsbury to the north, Clerkenwell to the southeast, Angel to the east, ...
. Heatherwick's projects, many of which have won design awards, include the UK pavilion at Expo 2010, the renovation of the
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
Pacific Place, the
Olympic cauldron The Olympic flame is a symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. The Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece, several months before the Olympic Games. This ceremony starts the Olymp ...
for the
2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
and
Paralympics The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...
, '' Vessel'' in New York City, and the
New Routemaster The New Routemaster, originally referred to as the New Bus for London and colloquially as the Borismaster or Boris Bus, is a low-floor Hybrid electric bus, hybrid diesel–electric double-decker bus operated in London, England. Designed by Tho ...
bus. The ''
Garden Bridge The Garden Bridge project was an unsuccessful private proposal for a pedestrian bridge over the River Thames in London, England. Originally an idea of Joanna Lumley, and strongly supported by then-Mayor of London Boris Johnson, the designer T ...
'' over the
Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...
in Central London was cancelled.


Life and career

Heatherwick was born in London. His mother designed jewellery; his father was a musician, ran a charity and later worked for Heatherwick's design firm. His maternal great-grandfather was the owner of Jaeger, the London fashion firm, one of his grandmothers founded the textile studio at
Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...
and was subsequently an art therapist, and his uncle was the journalist Nicholas Tomalin. After primary school in
Wood Green Wood Green is a suburban district of the London Borough of Haringey, London, England. Its postal district is N22, with parts in N8 or N15. The London Plan identifies it as one of the metropolitan centres in Greater London, and today it forms ...
, he attended the
Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley was a Steiner School located in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, England, formed in 1949. The school catered for pupils aged 3 to 19 years old. The School was set on of grounds, on the site of Kings Langley ...
, in Hertfordshire, which emphasises gardening, handcrafts, and the performance art of
eurythmy Eurythmy is an expressive movement art originated by Rudolf Steiner in conjunction with his wife, Marie, in the early 20th century. Primarily a performance art, it is also used in education, especially in Waldorf schools, and – as pa ...
, and
Sevenoaks School Sevenoaks School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school. It is co-educational, a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school, located in Sevenoaks, Kent, England. Established in 1432, it ...
in Kent. He studied three-dimensional design at
Manchester Polytechnic Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Education ...
and furniture design at the
Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...
(RCA). In his final year at RCA in 1994, Heatherwick met designer
Terence Conran Sir Terence Orby Conran (4 October 1931 – 12 September 2020) was a British designer, restaurateur, retailer and writer. He founded the Design Museum in Shad Thames, London in 1989. The British designer Thomas Heatherwick said that Conran "m ...
; after seeing Heatherwick's plan for a
gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or Gun turret, turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden, or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. In British English, the word is also used for a tent-like can ...
made of two curved stacks of birch plywood, Conran invited him to construct it at his country home, and bought it. Heatherwick founded Heatherwick Studio in 1994 after his graduation from the RCA. Conran asked Heatherwick to make an interior display for the Conran Shop, which led to his first public commission after
Mary Portas Mary Margaret Portas (''née'' Newton; born 28 May 1960) is an English retail consultant and broadcaster, known for her retail- and business-related television shows, founding her creative agency Portas and her appointment by David Cameron, the ...
saw it and commissioned Heatherwick to make a window display for the 1997
London Fashion Week London Fashion Week (LFW) is a clothing trade show that takes place in London, England, twice a year, in June and September. Showcasing over 250 designers to a global audience of influential media and retailers, it is one of the 'Big Four' fash ...
at the
Harvey Nichols Harvey Nichols Group Limited ( trading as Harvey Nichols) is a British luxury department store chain founded in 1831 by Benjamin Harvey; it is headquartered at its flagship store in Knightsbridge, London. It sells designer fashion collections ...
department store. He is a Senior Fellow and external examiner at the Royal College of Art, a Senior Research Fellow at the
Victoria & Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...
; a fellow of the
Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...
, and a Royal Designer for Industry. He has served on numerous judging and advisory panels and has given talks at institutions including the
RIBA ''Riba'' (, or , ) is an Arabic word used in Islamic law and roughly translated as " usury": unjust, exploitative gains made in trade or business. ''Riba'' is mentioned and condemned in several different verses in the Qur'an3:130
,
Bartlett School of Architecture The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment, also known as The Bartlett, is the academic centre for the study of the built environment at University College London (UCL), United Kingdom. It is home to thirteen departments, with specialisms incl ...
, the South Africa Design
Indaba An indaba (; ) is an important conference held by the izinDuna (principal men) of the Zulu and Xhosa peoples of South Africa. (Such meetings are also practised by the Swazi, who refer to them using the close cognate '.) Indabas may include o ...
conference, the
Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...
and TED2011.


Selected works


Rolling Bridge

In 2002, as part of a redevelopment of
Paddington Basin Paddington Basin is the name given to a long canal basin, and its surrounding area, in Paddington, London. The basin commences 500 m south of the junction known as Little Venice, of the Regent's Canal and the Paddington Arm of the Grand ...
, Heatherwick Studio designed
The Rolling Bridge The Rolling Bridge is a kinetic sculpture, and a unique type of curling moveable bridge, completed in 2004 as part of the Grand Union Canal office and retail development project at Paddington Basin, London. Design The Rolling Bridge was conc ...
, a canal bridge that opens by curling into a circle rather than rising in one or more rigid sections. The Rolling Bridge won the 2005
British Constructional Steelwork Association BCSA Ltd is a trade association for the structural steel industry in the UK and Ireland. It lobbies on behalf of its members, and provides them with education and technical services. A subsidiary, Steel Construction Certification Scheme Ltd, ru ...
's Structural Steel Award.


''B of the Bang''

Heatherwick's design for '' B of the Bang'', a £1.42 million 56m-high sculpture of 180 giant steel spikes, was unveiled outside the
City of Manchester Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium, currently known as Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, and commonly shortened as The Etihad, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., Manchester City, with a domestic football capacity of 53, ...
in 2005. The tallest public sculpture ever erected in Britain, it was commissioned to commemorate the
2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, ...
, and took its name from a quote from former Olympic sprint champion
Linford Christie Linford Christie (born 2 April 1960) is a Jamaican-born British former Sprint (running), sprinter and athletics coach. He is the only British man to have won gold medals in the 100 metres at all four major competitions open to British athletes ...
about the explosion of energy as a runner starts out of the blocks.
Danny Boyle Daniel Francis Boyle (born 20 October 1956) is an English director and producer. He is known for his work on the films ''Shallow Grave (1994 film), Shallow Grave'' (1994), ''Trainspotting (film), Trainspotting'' (1996) and its sequel ''T2 Tra ...
said it was the inspiration for his asking Heatherwick to design the Olympic cauldron. However, technical problems caused one of the spikes to dislodge within two weeks, and a further 22 required removal over the next four years. Despite a plea from ''
Angel of the North The ''Angel of the North'' is a contemporary sculpture by Antony Gormley, located in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. Completed in 1998, it is seen by an estimated 33 million people every year due to its proximity to the A1 road (Great Bri ...
'' creator Anthony Gormley to
Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester has had an elected local authority since 1838, which has been re ...
which described the sculpture as "remarkable, dynamic and engaging", it was dismantled and placed in storage in 2009. The council sued Heatherwick Studio and their subcontractors over the problems, settling out of court for £1.7m, and in 2012 the sculpture's core was sold for scrap.


East Beach Café

In 2007 Heatherwick Studio completed the East Beach Café at
Littlehampton Littlehampton is a town, seaside resort and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the English Channel on the eastern bank of the mouth of the River Arun. It is south south-west of London, west of Brighton and ...
, West Sussex. The long, single-storey building with a rippled silhouette evoking a sea shell has an outer skin of steel which was allowed to rust before the resulting colours were fixed with an oil-based coating. The café won a
RIBA National Award RIBA National Awards are part of an awards program operated by the Royal Institute of British Architects, also encompassing the Stirling Prize, the European Award and the International Award. The National Awards are given to buildings in the UK w ...
in 2008.


Worth Abbey

In 2009, Heatherwick was appointed to redesign the church interior at
Worth Abbey The Abbey of Our Lady, Help of Christians, commonly known as Worth Abbey, is a community of Roman Catholic monks who follow the Rule of St Benedict near Turners Hill village, in West Sussex, England. Founded in 1933, the abbey is part of the ...
. The new furnishings, including pews, choir stalls, monastery seats, desks and confessionals, were made of solid hardwood, ash embedded within walnut, but the pews began to crack after a few months. Heatherwick blamed the contractor.


UK Pavilion, Shanghai Expo 2010

Heatherwick Studio designed the UK's pavilion, dubbed "Seed Cathedral", for
Expo 2010 Expo 2010, officially the Expo 2010 Shanghai China, was held on both banks of the Huangpu River in Shanghai, China, from 1 May to 31 October 2010. It was a major World Expo registered by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), in the ...
in Shanghai. In keeping with the exposition theme, "Better City, Better Life", the pavilion explored the relationship between nature and cities. It was set in a parklike environment and consisted of a timber and steel
composite Composite or compositing may refer to: Materials * Composite material, a material that is made from several different substances ** Metal matrix composite, composed of metal and other parts ** Cermet, a composite of ceramic and metallic material ...
framework pierced by 60,000 fibre-optic rods, each housing on the inside one or more plant seeds from
Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1759, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...
'
Millennium Seed Bank Partnership The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership (MSBP or MSB), formerly known as the Millennium Seed Bank Project, is the largest ''ex situ'' plant conservation biology, conservation programme in the world, coordinated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, ...
. The UK pavilion won the gold medal of the
Bureau International des Expositions The Bureau International des Expositions (BIE; English: International Exhibitions Bureau) is an intergovernmental organization created to supervise international exhibitions (also known as expos, global expos or world expos) falling under the ...
for best pavilion design in its size class, and the
RIBA ''Riba'' (, or , ) is an Arabic word used in Islamic law and roughly translated as " usury": unjust, exploitative gains made in trade or business. ''Riba'' is mentioned and condemned in several different verses in the Qur'an3:130
Lubetkin Prize. After the Expo, the pavilion was dismantled, and some rods were donated and others auctioned off for charity.


New Routemaster bus

In 2010, the
Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current ...
Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...
announced that Heatherwick Studio would be designing the
New Routemaster The New Routemaster, originally referred to as the New Bus for London and colloquially as the Borismaster or Boris Bus, is a low-floor Hybrid electric bus, hybrid diesel–electric double-decker bus operated in London, England. Designed by Tho ...
double-decker bus, the first bus in more than 50 years to be commissioned specifically for London. A prototype by
Wrightbus Wrightbus is a Northern Irish bus manufacturer and a pioneer of the low-floor bus. The company was established in 1946 by Robert Wright and was later run by his son William Wright, until it was acquired in 2019 by British businessman Jo Bamf ...
was unveiled in December 2011; the first buses entered service in February 2012 and
Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...
ordered 600 in September 2012 and a further 200 in 2014. The design features a long front window for the driver and a wrapped glazing panel for passengers, with three doors and two staircases for faster and easier boarding. The diesel-electric hybrid engine is also significantly more fuel-efficient than previous hybrid buses. The first buses reinstated the rear open platform of the 1950s
AEC Routemaster The AEC Routemaster is a Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, front-engined double-decker bus that was designed by London Transport Executive, London Transport and built by the Associated Equipment Company (AEC) and Park Royal Vehicles. The ...
, but the expense of staffing the rear door led to elimination of the feature after 2015. After complaints from passengers about excessive heat in summer, starting in 2015 the buses were retrofitted with openable windows. There were also complaints about faulty batteries leading to high emissions from over-reliance on the diesel engine. The New Routemaster influenced
Alexander Dennis Alexander Dennis is a British bus manufacturing company based in Larbert, Scotland. The largest bus and coach manufacturer in the United Kingdom, with a 50% market share in 2019, it has manufacturing plants and partnerships in Canada, China, ...
's Enviro400H City Bus, which Transport for London began introducing in 2016. In January 2017,
Sadiq Khan Sir Sadiq Aman Khan (, ; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting (UK Parliament constituency), Tooting ...
discontinued Routemaster purchases as a cost-saving measure, promising instead to retrofit older London buses with the latest sustainable technologies. At Euro Bus Expo 2022, Equipmake showed a New Routemaster converted to fully electric operation; the bus is being tested by Transport for London.


2012 Olympic cauldron

Heatherwick Studio was asked by
Danny Boyle Daniel Francis Boyle (born 20 October 1956) is an English director and producer. He is known for his work on the films ''Shallow Grave (1994 film), Shallow Grave'' (1994), ''Trainspotting (film), Trainspotting'' (1996) and its sequel ''T2 Tra ...
, the artistic director of the
opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.
of the
2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
in London, to design the
Olympic cauldron The Olympic flame is a symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. The Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece, several months before the Olympic Games. This ceremony starts the Olymp ...
to be used for the Summer Olympics and Paralympics. Heatherwick's design departed from the tradition of a raised bowl by instead consisting of an 8.5m-high "dandelion" of 204 copper "petals" hand-made by skilled car body workers, which were brought into the
Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports ...
by children representing each team as part of the Parade of Nations, then mounted on blackened steel gas pipes which were lit by seven torchbearers and then rose in concentric circles from the centre outward. The merging of the flames symbolised the nations coming together in peace. After the close of the Games, each participating country was offered a petal. In July 2014, an exhibit on the cauldron opened at the
Museum of London London Museum (known from 1976 to 2024 as the Museum of London) is a museum in London, covering the history of the city from prehistoric to modern times, with a particular focus on social history. The Museum of London was formed in 1976 by ama ...
. In June 2013, New York design studio Atopia claimed that Heatherwick's Olympic cauldron design was substantially identical to a composite flower powered by
solar cell A solar cell, also known as a photovoltaic cell (PV cell), is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by means of the photovoltaic effect.
s which they had designed in 2007 at the request of the London Olympic committee for a One Planet Pavilion. (A
non-disclosure agreement A non-disclosure agreement (NDA), also known as a confidentiality agreement (CA), confidential disclosure agreement (CDA), proprietary information agreement (PIA), or secrecy agreement (SA), is a legal contract or part of a contract between at le ...
barring all companies from promoting work related to the Olympics was in place from 2007 to 2013, and prevented earlier raising of the issue.) Heatherwick, Boyle, and Martin Green, who had been head of ceremonies at the Olympic committee, all denied knowledge of Atopia's proposal. In summer 2014, the organisers of the London Olympics reached an out-of-court settlement acknowledging that key elements of the cauldron were present in Atopia's proposal. Heatherwick however said that "the design process was categorically our own, from start to finish."


Proposed Thames ''Garden Bridge''

In 2013, with the support of actress
Joanna Lumley Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an Indian-born British actress, presenter, author, television producer, activist and former model. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulo ...
, Heatherwick proposed the ''
Garden Bridge The Garden Bridge project was an unsuccessful private proposal for a pedestrian bridge over the River Thames in London, England. Originally an idea of Joanna Lumley, and strongly supported by then-Mayor of London Boris Johnson, the designer T ...
'', a pedestrian bridge across the
Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...
in central London that would be planted as a woodland park. The project was originally to have been entirely privately financed; in 2016, Mayor of London
Sadiq Khan Sir Sadiq Aman Khan (, ; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting (UK Parliament constituency), Tooting ...
froze funding after £60m of public money had been committed to it out of a total estimated cost of £175m, some by
Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...
to strengthen
Temple tube station Temple is a London Underground station located at Victoria Embankment in the City of Westminster, close to its boundary with the City of London. It is on the Circle line (London Underground), Circle and District line, District lines between ...
in order for it to bear the weight of the north end of the bridge. In 2017, it was found that Heatherwick was the sole founding member of the Garden Bridge Trust and had attended eight trustee meetings, leading to accusations of
conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...
; he had repeatedly denied being part of the trust. Heatherwick had also attended a secret fundraising meeting in California with
Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
with then-Mayor
Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...
in 2013, before the design contract had been officially awarded. In April 2017, in a report ordered by the Mayor,
Margaret Hodge Margaret Eve Hodge, Baroness Hodge of Barking (, formerly Watson; born 8 September 1944), is a British politician and life peer, who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Barking from 1994 to 2024. A member of the Labour Party, she was p ...
, the former chair of the
Public Accounts Committee A public accounts committee (PAC) is a committee within a legislature whose role is to study public audits, invite ministers, permanent secretaries or other ministry officials to the committee for questioning, and report on their findings subseque ...
, concluded that the project should be cancelled: the £46 million of public money already lost was preferable to risking additional demands if the project proceeded. The report stated that the appointments of Heatherwick Studio as designer and Arup as engineers "were not open, fair or competitive ... and revealed systematic failures and ineffective control systems". The project was officially cancelled on 14 August 2017.


Bombay Sapphire distillery

Working with
English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...
and
English Nature English Nature was the Executive agency, United Kingdom government agency that promoted the Conservation (ethic), conservation of wildlife, geology and wild places throughout England between 1990 and 2006. It was a non-departmental public body ...
, Heatherwick Studio led the masterplan and design for the transformation of the former
Laverstoke Mill Laverstoke Mill is a former paper mill located on the River Test in Laverstoke near Overton, Hampshire, England. The mill complex contains three Grade II listed buildings: the Mill House, Mill Cottages, and the Glazing House. After a major refur ...
bank note printing plant in
Laverstoke Laverstoke ( ) is a village in north west Hampshire, England. The On the other side of the River Test there is the settlement at Freefolk which is included in the Laverstock census return. In the early 18th century, Laverstoke Mill was purchased ...
, Hampshire into a gin distillery for
Bombay Sapphire Bombay Sapphire is a brand of gin that is distilled by the Bombay Spirits Company, a subsidiary company of Bacardi, at Laverstoke Mill in the village of Laverstoke in the English county of Hampshire. The brand was first launched in 1986 by Engli ...
. Twenty-three of more than 40 derelict buildings were restored and 9 more recent industrial structures demolished; the channelised
River Test The River Test is a chalk stream in Hampshire in the south of England. It rises at Ashe near Basingstoke and flows southwards for to Southampton Water. Settlements on the Test include the towns of Stockbridge and Romsey. The river's vall ...
, which flows through the site, was uncovered and widened and its banks planted; and a central courtyard and a pair of intertwined curvilinear glasshouses for the
tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...
and
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
plants used in the manufacturing process were created. The plants, which are supplemented with others from their native ecosystems, draw on the river for water and are warmed by heat created by the distillation of the gin. The distillery was Heatherwick Studios' first conservation project and first commission for a production facility. Opened in 2014, it was the first drinks manufacturing plant and the first renovation to achieve
BREEAM The Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), first published by the Building Research Establishment in 1990, is touted as the world's longest established method of identifying the sustainability of buildings. Ar ...
'outstanding' accreditation.


Learning Hub

The Learning Hub, also known as The Hive, a multi-purpose educational facility built as part of a campus redevelopment programme by
Nanyang Technological University Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is a public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1981, it is also the second oldest autonomous university in the country. The university is organised across numerous colleges and schools, includi ...
in Singapore, opened in 2015. It maximises interaction between students and faculty and across disciplines by replacing rectangular rooms and corridors with twelve tubular stacks of tutorial rooms around a central atrium and 56 lecture rooms. Rooms are rounded in shape and can be reconfigured; the towers taper toward their bases for an organic appearance, and common spaces include balconies and garden terraces. The primary construction material is concrete, with metal stacks of balconies and screened stairs; the façade of the towers was imprinted with a pattern of horizontal lines using twelve silicone moulds, and the walls of the staircase and elevator cores, which are stained reddish-brown, with 700 drawings commissioned from illustrator Sara Fanelli as triggers for thought. The building won the Singapore
Building and Construction Authority The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) is a statutory board under the Ministry of National Development of the Government of Singapore. It was established on 1 April 1999 through the merger of the Construction Industry Development Board ...
's Green Mark Platinum Award for Sustainability prior to its completion, and in 2015 was shortlisted for the WAN Concrete in Architecture award. It also contributed to Heatherwick Studios' winning the 2015 Creativity in Concrete Award of the British
Concrete Society The Concrete Society is a UK based non-profit company that was founded in 1966 in response to the increasing need for a single organisation embracing all those interested in concrete. On its formal inauguration, on 13 October 1966, the society to ...
.


Coal Drops Yard

Coal Drops Yard is a public space and retail destination in King's Cross, London. The project included the renovation of two buildings built in 1850 and used to receive freight arriving from the north of England. The design stitches the two buildings together by extending the two roofs towards each other until they meet. This creates an additional storey and distinct centre to the linear site. The stretched roofs shelter the yard below which can be used to host events, whilst the third storey will offer views of King's Cross, the
Francis Crick Institute The Francis Crick Institute (formerly the UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation) is a biomedical research centre in London, which was established in 2010 and opened in 2016. The institute is a partnership between Cancer Research UK, Im ...
and Cubitt Square. The project is part of the wider re-development programme for the area by Argent LLP and King's Cross Central Limited Partnership (KCCLP). Coal Drops Yard was approved by planning in December 2015, and was completed in October 2018.


Zeitz MOCAA

Heatherwick Studio worked on the conversion of the historic Grain Silo at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town into a not-for-profit cultural institution, the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA), which houses the most significant collection of contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora. The complex consist of nine floors with of dedicated exhibition space. Using a variety of concrete-cutting techniques, galleries and a large central atrium were carved out of the silo's 42 concrete tubes. The concrete shafts were capped with strengthened glass that can be walked over by visitors, and designed to draw light into the building from above and create a cathedral-like interior. The excavation of this interior space unifies two buildings; the silo and the grading tower. Bisected tubes contain cylindrical lifts and a spiral staircase. Pillowed glazing panels formed of segments of flat glass have been inserted into the upper floors. The Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa opened on September 22, 2017.


''Vessel ''

In 2016, Heatherwick's design for the '' Vessel'' structure at Hudson Yards' Public Plaza in New York City was unveiled. The structure is in the form of a network of interlocking staircases that visitors can climb; its design was inspired by amphitheatres and by the ancient
stepwell Stepwells (also known as vav or baori) are wells, cisterns or ponds with a long corridor of steps that descend to the water level. Stepwells played a significant role in defining subterranean architecture in western India from the 7th to the ...
s of India. It has 2,500 steps in 154 flights of stairs, equivalent to 15 storeys, and it has 80 viewing landings. Construction began in April 2017, and it opened on 15 March 2019. In August 2019, ''Vessel'' was the subject of a profile on the
Sky Arts Sky Arts (originally launched as Artsworld) is a British free-to-air television channel offering 24 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts, including theatrical performances, films, documentaries and music (such as opera perfor ...
programme ''
The Art of Architecture "The Art of Architecture" is a British factual documentary series broadcast in the United Kingdom on Sky Arts. It aired a first series in 2019, a second in 2021, and a third in 2022, as well as two specials in 2020. Each of its episodes makes a s ...
''. , ''Vessel'' has been closed to public access indefinitely, after the fourth suicide in less than two years.


Bund Finance Centre

Heatherwick Studio collaborated with Fosters + Partners on the Bund Finance Centre (BFC) – a new mixed-use complex in Shanghai. The project is situated at the end of the Bund in Shanghai and envisioned as a connection point between the city's old town and the financial district. The plan includes two that combine offices, a boutique hotel and retail space. An arts and cultural centre is located at the centre of the scheme. Conceived as a platform for international exchange, the centre will feature art galleries and theatre spaces. The building is surrounded by an adaptable moving veil which reveals the stage on the balcony and views towards Pudong district.


Google headquarters

In 2015, Heatherwick Studio revealed that it was working on projects including the new Google Headquarters in
Mountain View, California Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the population was 82,376 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Mountain V ...
– in partnership with Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). The project initially involved a series of dome-shaped buildings, but the project was revised later in 2016, with three buildings to be built in two different sites – one immediately adjacent to
Googleplex The Googleplex is the corporate headquarters complex of Google. It is located at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway in Mountain View, California. The original complex, with of office space, is the company's second largest square footage assemblage of ...
, the other two smaller buildings a few blocks away. Heatherwick and BIG also collaborated on a design on a London headquarters at King's Cross for Google. The building, nicknamed the 'landscraper', includes a roof garden.


1000 Trees

Heatherwick started a development titled 1,000 Trees in Shanghai. The project comprises two mountain-like peaks built with trees planted on the buildings, and it is a mix-use development with retail and offices spaces, as well as event venues, galleries and a hotel. The design aims to unify a park that runs along the
Suzhou Creek Suzhou Creek (or Soochow Creek), also called the Wusong (Woosung) River, is a river that passes through the Shanghai city center. It is named after the neighboring city of Suzhou (Soochow), Jiangsu, the predominant settlement in this area prior ...
and the M50 Arts District, while the local height restrictions defined the height of the two peaks which slopes down to the park. Embedded within the development is an open-air art wall inspired by an art-wall that ran along Moganshan Road. Part of the design was also inspired by Moganshan. The project is to be completed in two phases, with the first phase scheduled to be opened in 2021.


Airo Car

In 2021, Heatherwick unveiled the design and concept for a pollution-eating car, Airo, at the Shanghai Motor Show. The project was designed by Heatherwick Studio for the newly formed Chinese car brand
IM Motors IM Motors (, ''Zhiji Motors'') is an electric vehicle joint venture between Chinese automobile manufacturer SAIC Motor and Chinese technology companies Zhangjiang Hi-Tech and Alibaba Group. Etymology The company's English name IM stands for " ...
. Named Airo, the electric vehicle will be fitted with a high efficiency particulate air filtering system that will actively clean air pollutants. Production of the car is set to start in 2023 in China.


Other notable works and projects

* Sculpted forms in laminated wood, Guastavino's, New York City (2000) * ''Bleigiessen'',
Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of Burroughs Wellcome, one of the predec ...
, London (2002) * '' Blue Carpet'',
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...
(2002) * '' Paternoster Vents'',
Paternoster Square Paternoster Square is a former historic square, renamed from Newgate Market c. 1872, and now a post-war urban redevelopment, owned by the Mitsubishi Estate, next to St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. The area was previously named Patern ...
, London (2002) * Longchamp store in the
SoHo SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...
district of New York City (interior design, 2004) * ''Sitooterie II'', Barnards Farm,
West Horndon West Horndon is a village and civil parish in the south of the Borough of Brentwood in Essex, England. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross in Central London. West Horndon civil parish was abolished in 1934 and created again in 2003 wi ...
, Essex (2004) * Southorn Playground,
Wan Chai Wan Chai (Traditional Chinese characters, Chinese: 灣仔) is located in the western part of Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It is bounded by Canal Road, Hong Kong, Canal Road to the east, Arsenal St ...
, Hong Kong (proposed redesign, 2005) * Pacific Place renovation, Hong Kong (2005) * Konstam Restaurant, Kings Cross, London (interior design, 2006) * "Zip Bag" handbag for Longchamp * Boiler Suit, Guy's & St Thomas' Hospital, London (facade and entrance, 2007) * Studios Complex at
Aberystwyth Arts Centre Aberystwyth Arts Centre ( Welsh: ''Canolfan y Celfyddydau Aberystwyth'') is an arts centre in Wales, located on Aberystwyth University's Penglais campus. One of the largest in Wales, it comprises a theatre (312 seats), concert hall (1,250 seats ...
,
Aberystwyth University Aberystwyth University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 stude ...
(2009) * EDEN Singapore (2020) *
Maggie's Centre Maggie's centres are a network of drop-in centres across the United Kingdom and abroad that aim to help anyone who has been affected by cancer. They are intended as welcoming and caring environments that provide support, information and practica ...
, Leeds (2020) * Little Island at
Hudson River Park Hudson River Park is a waterfront park on the North River (Hudson River) that extends from 59th Street south to Battery Park in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The park, a component of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, stretches and ...
in New York City (2021) * Lantern House, a residential development in New York City


Approach to design

Heatherwick Studio combines a wide range of design disciplines, including architecture, engineering, transport and urban planning to furniture, sculpture and product design. Heatherwick has emphasised his dislike since his student days of "sliced-up ghettos of thought" which separate metalwork, product design, furniture design, embroidery, fashion, sculpture, and architecture into distinct departments, preferring to see all three-dimensional design as a single discipline. Rather than working from flashes of inspiration, he compares the problem-solving orientation of his studio to solving a crime by a process of elimination.


Exhibitions and publications

In 2012 the
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...
put on a retrospective of Heatherwick Studio's work, titled ''Heatherwick Studio: Designing the Extraordinary''. The British Council hosted the major touring exhibition ''New British Inventors: Inside Heatherwick Studio''. In 2015 and 2016 the exhibition travelled to six venues in East Asia and reached over 409,109 visitors. The museums and galleries the exhibition travelled to include: Singapore National Design Centre; CAFA, Beijing;
Power Station of Art The Power Station of Art () is a municipal contemporary art museum in Huangpu, Shanghai, China. The museum is a public institution that is funded by the Shanghai City Culture and Tourism Bureau. Housed in a former power station, the museum is C ...
, Shanghai; PMQ, Hong Kong; Taipei Fine Arts Museum; and D Museum, Seoul. The first US exhibition ''Provocations: The Architecture and Design of Heatherwick Studio'' travelled to three venues in North America in 2014 and 2015:
Nasher Sculpture Center Opened in 2003, the Nasher Sculpture Center is a museum in Dallas, Texas, that houses the Patsy and Raymond Nasher collection of modern and contemporary sculpture. It is located on a site adjacent to the Dallas Museum of Art in the Dal ...
, Dallas; the
Hammer Museum The Hammer Museum, which is affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles, is an art museum and cultural center known for its artist-centric and progressive array of exhibitions and public programs. Founded in 1990 by the entrepreneur- ...
, Los Angeles; and the
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is a design museum at the Andrew Carnegie Mansion in Manhattan, New York City, along the Upper East Side's Museum Mile. It is one of 19 Smithsonian Institution museums and one of three Smithsonian facil ...
, New York City. In 2012, coinciding with the Victoria & Albert exhibition,
Thames and Hudson Thames & Hudson (sometimes T&H for brevity) is a publisher of illustrated books in all visually creative categories: art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and the performing arts. It also publishes books on archaeology, history, ...
published ''Thomas Heatherwick: Making''. A second volume was released in 2013.


Awards

Heatherwick's design awards include the
Prince Philip Designers Prize The Prince Philip Designers Prize is an annual design recognition given by the Chartered Society of Designers and originally awarded by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1921–2021). It is the longest running design award in the United Kingdom, ...
(2006), the London Design Medal (2010), the Tokyo Design and Art Environmental Award for designer of the year (2010), the
RIBA ''Riba'' (, or , ) is an Arabic word used in Islamic law and roughly translated as " usury": unjust, exploitative gains made in trade or business. ''Riba'' is mentioned and condemned in several different verses in the Qur'an3:130
Lubetkin Prize (2010) for the UK Pavilion, and the
Compasso d'Oro The Compasso d'Oro (; ) is an industrial design award originated in Italy in 1954. Initially sponsored by the La Rinascente, a Milanese department store, the award has been organised and managed by the Associazione per il Disegno Industriale (ADI ...
(2014) for the Magis (which is also held in the collection Compasso d'Oro collection of the
ADI Design Museum The ADI Design Museum is a museum in Milan, Italy, which houses the historical collection of the ADI Compasso d'Oro Foundation, as well as hosting temporary exhibitions, public talks and other initiatives. It is dedicated to the understanding a ...
in Milan). In 2004 he became the youngest practitioner to be appointed a Royal Designer for Industry. He was made an Honorary Fellow of RIBA in 2007 and of the
Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senio ...
in 2016. Heatherwick has been awarded Honorary Doctorates from the
Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...
,
University of Dundee The University of Dundee is a public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a university college in 1881 with a donation from the prominent Baxter family of textile manufacturers. The institution was, for most of its ...
,
University of Brighton The University of Brighton is a public university based in Brighton on the south coast of England. Its roots can be traced back to 1858 when the Brighton School of Art was opened in the Royal Pavilion. It achieved university status in 1992. T ...
,
Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield station, Sheffield railway station, whil ...
,
University of the Arts London The University of the Arts London is a public collegiate university in London, England, United Kingdom. It specialises in arts, design, fashion, and the performing arts. The university is a federation of six arts colleges: Camberwell College of ...
, and
Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Education ...
. He was appointed
Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(CBE) in the
2013 Birthday Honours The 2013 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of t ...
for services to the design industry. In 2015, Heatherwick was named one of GQ's 50 best dressed British men. In 2019, Heatherwick received the Golden Plate Award of the
American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...
presented by Awards Council member
Julie Taymor Julie Taymor (born December 15, 1952) is an American director and writer of theater, opera, and film. Her stage adaptation of ''The Lion King (musical), The Lion King'' debuted in 1997 and received eleven Tony Awards, Tony Award nominations, with ...
during the International Achievement Summit in New York City.


References


External links

* – official site
Profile in Wired Magazine

Interview Thomas Heatherwick for Studio International





Profile in ''Art & Architecture'' – PDF



Extrusions
at haunchofvenison.com
Glass Bridge in ''Frame and Form'' magazine
* *
"Building the Seed Cathedral" (TED2011)
(also ) {{DEFAULTSORT:Heatherwick, Thomas 1970 births Living people People educated at Sevenoaks School 20th-century English sculptors 21st-century English sculptors 21st-century English male artists Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University Alumni of the Royal College of Art Architects from London Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English male sculptors Honorary Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Royal Academicians Sculptors from London Compasso d'Oro Award recipients Royal Designers for Industry