Tonkin Liu

What Tonkin Liu does

Tonkin Liu is a UK-based multi-disciplinary architecture, landscape, and sculpture design studio founded in 2002 by Mike Tonkin and Anna Liu. The firm delivers bespoke design services across private residential commissions, commercial property developments, and public sector projects, with a portfolio spanning from intimate home conversions to large-scale civic landmarks. Its central technical differentiator is the proprietary Shell Lace Structure technique, discovered in 2009 through empirical experimentation combining mollusc shell geometries with traditional tailoring craft, enabling ultra-light, structurally efficient organic forms not achievable through conventional construction. The firm has also extended this biomimetic methodology into medical devices via a fully patented Shell Lace Stent developed with medical experts.

The business operates on a project-based professional services model, acquiring clients through design competitions, invited tenders, and reputation-driven referrals. Pricing is custom per commission with multi-year contract cadences typical for major builds. Marketing relies on award accumulation (23 RIBA Awards in 22 years), industry exhibitions, and editorial coverage rather than outbound sales. Strategic collaborations with firms like Arup (structural engineering), Vital Energi, and Grosvenor Property UK support delivery of complex commissions. The firm maintains a small studio footprint (11-50 employees) with a London headquarters and operates as TONKIN LIU LTD, a privately held UK limited company without external institutional investment.

Name

Tonkin Liu

Legal name

TONKIN LIU LTD

Website

https://tonkinliu.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Tonkin Liu is a UK-based multi-disciplinary architecture, landscape, and sculpture studio founded in 2002, delivering nature-inspired bespoke design services to private residential, commercial, and public sector clients using its proprietary Shell Lace Structure technique.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Architectural Design Services

NAICS

Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services (5413), Landscape Architectural Services (54132), Other Specialized Design Services (54149)

SIC

Surgical & Medical Instruments & Apparatus (3841)

akta.pro primary industry

Building Information Modeling (BIM) & Digital Design Services (BPAHAKAK)

Keywords

• Architecture design services
• Landscape architecture
• Biomimetic design
• Sculpture design
• Structural design

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Architecture and Design Services: Full-service architectural design for residential, commercial, and public projects. Services include masterplanning, landscape design, building design, and specialist technical consultation. Revenue is project-based, typically commissioned through design competitions or direct client engagement.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Tonkin Liu is a UK multi-disciplinary architecture, landscape, and sculpture design studio that delivers bespoke, nature-inspired design solutions for residential, commercial, and public sector clients. The firm's services span architecture design, masterplanning, landscape architecture, and sculpture, all grounded in a storytelling methodology and proprietary Shell Lace Structure technique that enables ultra-lightweight, biomimetic structural forms.

Product overview

Tonkin Liu is a UK multi-disciplinary architecture, landscape, and sculpture studio founded in 2002. The firm offers architecture and design services inspired by nature, featuring its proprietary Shell Lace Structure technique developed in 2009. The portfolio spans architecture projects (residential conversions, commercial towers), landscape designs (urban gardens, public squares), and sculptures (musical instruments, architectural landmarks). The firm also developed the Shell Lace Stent, a patented medical airway device. The work is characterized by biomimetic principles, technical innovation, and nature-inspired storytelling methodology.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Shell Lace Structure: A pioneering structural technique discovered by Tonkin Liu in 2009, combining mollusc shell geometries with traditional tailoring craft to create strong, ultra-light, free organic forms.
• Shell Lace Stent

Products and services

• Shell Lace Structure An innovative structural technique combining mollusc shell geometries with tailoring craft, creating active surface structures that bring together shell design and folded plate engineering for strong, ultra-light, free organic forms.
• Shell Lace Stent A fully patented airway stent developed with medical experts, applying the Shell Lace Structure technique to medical applications.
• Water Tower Award-winning conversion of a disused 1950s water tower in Norfolk into a private home, featuring cross-laminated timber additions and innovative structural solutions.
• Tower of Light A 40-metre-high structural flue tower in Manchester featuring the Shell Lace Structure technique, built from 6-8mm thick laser-cut steel sheets, with animated lighting that reflects sunlight during day and creates moving light at night.
• Singing Ringing Tree A 3-meter-tall wind-powered musical sculpture made of galvanized steel pipes in Burnley, producing an eerie melodious hum as wind passes through the pipes.
• Sun Rain Rooms A two-storey extension and restoration serving as both studio and family home, featuring innovative timber roof design with reflecting pool that gathers rainwater.
• Swing Bridge An 8-meter lightweight perforated swing bridge made from recycled steel for Crystal Palace Park, providing secure maintenance access to Dinosaur Island.
• Grosvenor Square Redesign Transformation of a 6-acre grade II listed garden square in London featuring biodiverse planting, waterfall canopies, wetlands, and rainwater capture systems.
• Architecture Design Services Full-service architectural design for residential, commercial, and public projects, including masterplanning, building design, and specialist technical consultation.
• Landscape Design Services Landscape architecture and urban design services including public realm design, garden squares, and environmental regeneration projects.

Quantifiable outcome

• 23 RIBA Awards in 22 years of practice
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Open CityminorOthers · 27 July 2022Anna Liu serves as trustee for Open City, an organization committed to making architecture and urban landscape more open, accessible, and equitable.
• ArupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStructural engineering collaboration on multiple landmark projects including Tower of Light (Manchester), Swing Bridge (Crystal Palace Park), and Water Tower (Norfolk). Arup provides engineering expertise supporting Tonkin Liu's innovative structural designs.
• Vital EnergicoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on the Tower of Light project in Manchester's Civic Quarter. Vital Energi delivers the CHP Energy Centre that the Tower of Light encloses and supports.
• Cake IndustriescoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerLocal fabricator that built the Swing Bridge for Crystal Palace Park Dinosaur Island. Produced detailed fabrication and installation process for the 8-meter recycled steel bridge.
• Darwen TerracottaminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerFabricated over 1,300 handmade ceramic tiles for the Tower of Light's Wall of Energy facade in Blackburn, Lancashire.
• ACORN (Universities of Bath, Cambridge, Dundee)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration on automated concrete construction. Tonkin Liu is one of 15 industry partners backing the ACORN project, alongside Foster + Partners, Laing O'Rourke, BRE, and Buro Happold. Project received £1.5 million UKRI funding.
• HTA DesignminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint team for Thamesmead Waterfront masterplan competition. Tonkin Liu joined HTA Design-led consortium including AR-Urbanism, Buro Happold, and other specialists.
• Grosvenor Property UKcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerClient partner for Grosvenor Square redesign project. Grosvenor is transforming London's second largest garden square with Tonkin Liu's landscape and urban design.
• Nigel Dunnett, Gary Grant, Cordula Zeidler, BDPcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMulti-disciplinary project team for Grosvenor Square including horticulturalist Nigel Dunnett, ecologist Gary Grant, heritage expert Cordula Zeidler, and architects BDP for detailed design.
• Friends of Crystal Palace DinosaursminorGTM or Marketing PartnerProject instigators who raised funds from GLA and crowdfunding for the Swing Bridge, and maintain the dinosaur sculptures in Crystal Palace Park.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Heatherwick Studio: London-based multidisciplinary design studio of comparable size (~200 staff) working at the intersection of architecture, landscape, and product design. Comparable because both are boutique UK design-led practices with strong brand identities and a portfolio that spans buildings, public realm, and objects.
• Foster + Partners: Global UK-headquartered architecture firm with deep expertise in sustainable, technologically innovative design. Directly comparable as a fellow ACORN research consortium partner and a UK firm competing in the same high-prestige commission market.
• Grimshaw Architects: London-based architecture practice with a strong emphasis on sustainability, transport, and landmark public projects. Comparable as a UK architecture firm pursuing award-winning, environmentally driven design across building typologies.
• WilkinsonEyre: UK architecture firm known for structural innovation and landmark projects. Comparable given overlapping focus on engineered sculptural forms, structural experimentation, and high-profile UK public commissions.
• BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group): Internationally recognised architecture practice known for innovation-driven, narrative-led design. Comparable to Tonkin Liu in its emphasis on distinctive design language and willingness to pioneer novel construction techniques.
• Studio Gang: US-based architecture and urban design practice with a strong nature-inspired, biomimetic design philosophy. Comparable because both studios foreground ecological responsiveness and biomimetic principles as core design drivers.
• Kengo Kuma & Associates: Tokyo-based practice internationally recognised for nature-inspired architecture using timber and craft-led techniques. Directly comparable as a globally respected firm translating natural geometries and craft into built form.
• Allies and Morrison: London-based architecture and urban design practice working across residential, public, and cultural buildings. Comparable as a UK firm competing for similar urban regeneration and cultural commissions.
• John Pardey Architects: Small UK architecture firm specialising in sustainable, context-driven residential and cultural buildings. Comparable as a boutique UK practice with a similar headcount range and focus on craft-led, award-eligible design.

Broad incumbents

• Zaha Hadid Architects: Global architecture practice with a much larger portfolio and headcount, known for parametric and structurally expressive design. Comparable as a fellow UK-based firm using advanced digital tools to deliver landmark buildings, though at materially greater scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/tonkinliu

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Tonkin Liu