What Carmody Groarke does

Carmody Groarke is a London-headquartered architectural practice founded in 2006 by Kevin Carmody and Andy Groarke, operating as a private partnership of 11-50 staff across the UK and continental Europe. The firm delivers design, masterplanning, and project delivery services across four primary verticals: cultural institutions and museums (British Library Boston Spa, Design Museum Gent, Windermere Jetty, Science and Industry Museum Manchester, BFI Southbank, Dulwich Picture Gallery, Bibliotheque nationale de France), higher education student housing (LSE Bankside, Milan Giovenale), heritage conservation and listed-building restoration (Hill House Box, Power Hall, Covent Garden apartment), and selective private residential and commercial workspace (469 Bethnal Green Road). The practice's technical differentiators include the proprietary Gent Waste Brick (63% recycled municipal waste, 0.17kg CO2e/kg, certified via BUTGB) developed with Imperial College London, passive archive building design (225 linear km at Boston Spa), reciprocal timber roof structures, and decarbonisation expertise (515 tonnes CO2/year saved at Power Hall).

The firm generates revenue through professional design fees and project commissions negotiated on a per-project basis, with no public pricing. Distribution is primarily through winning open architectural competitions (LSE Bankside, Design Museum Gent, British Library Boston Spa), repeat direct commissions from cultural institutions, and partner-architect collaborations (Sheppard Robson, ATAMA, RE-ST, TVK) for larger schemes. Marketing relies on architectural publications (A+U 634, El Croquis 195), academic teaching (Harvard GSD option studios), and award recognition (RIBA National Awards, AJ Design of the Year 2025, Henry Van de Velde Awards 2024, Stirling Prize shortlist 2021). Backlog includes active construction (British Library, Power Hall, ArtPlay Pavilion), near-term openings (Design Museum Gent 2026), planning-approved schemes (LSE Bankside 2026), and competition longlists (National Slavery Museum Amsterdam 2026).

Name

Carmody Groarke

Legal name

Carmody Groarke

Website

https://carmodygroarke.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Carmody Groarke is a London-based architectural practice delivering cultural, educational, heritage, and residential projects across the UK and Europe, with proprietary low-carbon materials expertise and a competition-led model winning RIBA-recognised commissions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Architectural Design Services: Professional architecture services including design, masterplanning, and project delivery for cultural institutions, educational facilities, heritage buildings, and residential projects. Revenue generated through design fees, project commissions, and consulting services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Carmody Groarke is an architecture practice delivering design, masterplanning, and project delivery services for cultural institutions, educational facilities, heritage buildings, residential projects, and memorials. The practice offers expertise in sustainable low-carbon construction, heritage adaptive reuse, and innovative material research (notably the Gent Waste Brick). Revenue is generated through negotiated design fees and project commissions on a per-project basis, with additional income from research collaborations and architectural publications.

Product overview

Carmody Groarke is an architecture and design studio offering a portfolio of architectural services and built projects. The firm does not operate a unified software product but delivers distinct architectural services across multiple project types: archive and library buildings (British Library Boston Spa), museum renovations and extensions (Design Museum Gent, Windermere Jetty Museum), workspace redevelopments (469 Bethnal Green Road), student housing (LSE Bankside House, Milan Giovenale), memorials (7 July Memorial), cultural pavilions (ArtPlay Pavilion, Grossmarkt Theatre Pavilion), heritage restorations (Power Hall, Hill House Box), and institutional transformations (BFI Southbank). The studio also develops innovative materials research through the Gent Waste Brick initiative and documents its work in architectural publications including A+U and El Croquis monographs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• British Library Boston Spa Masterplan A masterplan for the British Library's national repository at Boston Spa, including a new low-carbon automated archive building (225 linear km capacity) with passive climate control and renovation of the 1970s Brutalist Urquhart Building. For a major national library client.
• Design Museum Gent Renovation and Extension Major renovation and extension of Design Museum Gent (8,600m²) in the UNESCO World Heritage City of Ghent, featuring a new five-story wing with lime-cured bricks made from city municipal waste. For a major European museum client.
• Windermere Jetty Museum Museum for Lakeland Arts displaying an internationally significant collection of boats and vessels, with oxidised copper cladding and wet dock for displaying boats on water. RIBA Stirling Prize shortlisted 2021.
• LSE Bankside House Student Housing Competition-winning student housing proposal for the London School of Economics, featuring three stepped towers (1,945 beds) with Passivhaus standards and BREEAM Outstanding targeting, plus WELL certification.
• 469 Bethnal Green Road Workspace Redevelopment
• ArtPlay Pavilion at Dulwich Picture Gallery Purpose-built 315m² pavilion for children's creative play and adaptive reuse of Gallery Cottage into a canteen at Dulwich Picture Gallery, featuring a reciprocal Douglas Fir timber roof and ground source heat pump.
• Power Hall Restoration, Science and Industry Museum Manchester Heritage restoration of a Grade II listed railway shipping shed (2,500m²), combining sensitive preservation with a decarbonisation scheme projected to save 515 tonnes of CO2 annually. For the Science and Industry Museum.
• Hill House Box Conservation Project Conservation project for Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Hill House featuring a stainless-steel chain-mail mesh 'big-box' temporary museum sheltering the historic house during restoration. For the National Trust for Scotland.
• Bibliothèque nationale de France Conservation Centre Conservation Centre masterplan in Amiens with passive archive and administrative buildings for the Bibliothèque nationale de France, in collaboration with lead architects TVK.
• BFI Southbank Entrance Transformation Transformation of the British Film Institute's main entrance, cinema foyer and hospitality functions beneath Waterloo Bridge, featuring a new fibreglass canopy.
• Milan Giovenale Student Housing Mixed-use student housing building in central Milan with over 600 student beds, wrapped in reconstituted Ceppo stone with locally quarried aggregates.
• Covent Garden Apartment Private Residential Grade II listed duplex penthouse transformation in Covent Garden with a rooftop aluminium pavilion, for a private high-net-worth client.
• 7 July Memorial Permanent memorial in Hyde Park commemorating the 52 lives lost in the 7 July 2005 London bombings, featuring 52 stainless-steel cast vertical pillars in four interlinked clusters.
• Grossmarkt Theatre Pavilion Circular aluminium hospitality pavilion for a 1,700-seat temporary theatre within Hamburg's heritage-listed Grossmarkt fruit and vegetable market structure.

Quantifiable outcome

• Gent Waste Brick achieves 0.17kg CO2e/kg - 1/3 the embodied carbon of Belgian clay bricks
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Grow PlacesminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2023Leading the Truman Brewery redevelopment team. Carmody Groarke is working as part of the architect team for the sustainable mixed-use development in East London.
• Truman BreweryminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2023Client for the redevelopment of the Truman Brewery estate on Brick Lane, East London. Carmody Groarke appointed to work on sustainable mixed-use development across seven development plots.
• Imperial College London (Centre for Infrastructure Materials)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2022Design Exchange Partnership (DEP) funded by AHRC and facilitated by Future Observatory at Design Museum. Research collaboration with Seratech Cement and AKT II Engineers to develop ultra-low carbon brick using local construction and municipal waste streams.
• Seratech CementcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 November 2022Research partner based at Imperial College London developing magnesium carbonate-based building materials for the ultra-low carbon brick project.
• AKT II EngineerscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2022Structural engineering partner in the Design Exchange Partnership developing circular building materials with Imperial College and Carmody Groarke.
• Sheppard RobsoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner architect for LSE Bankside House competition-winning scheme. Sheppard Robson serves as the UK-based partner architectural practice collaborating on the 1,945-bed student accommodation project.
• Bouygues UKcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDevelopment partner and main contractor for LSE Bankside House redevelopment. Bouygues UK is part of the Bouygues Construction group delivering the student accommodation scheme.
• ATAMA ArchitectscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner architects for Design Museum Gent project alongside RE-ST. ATAMA (formerly TRANS architectuur I stedenbouw) provides local architectural expertise for the Ghent UNESCO World Heritage Site project.
• RE-STcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerArchitecture and research firm collaborating on Design Museum Gent masterplan. RE-ST brings research expertise to the circularity and sustainability aspects of the museum extension.
• TVKcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead architects for Bibliothèque nationale de France Conservation Centre masterplan in Amiens. Carmody Groarke collaborates as specialist archive design consultants within the TVK-led team.
• BC MaterialscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrussels-based development partner and expert in innovative earth-based construction. BC Materials provided on-the-ground knowledge for establishing viable waste streams and certifying the Gent Waste Brick for use.
• Local Works StudiocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSussex-based experts in lime and localized low-carbon construction. Early prototypes of the Gent Waste Brick were developed by Local Works Studio before BC Materials joined the project.
• Future Observatory (Design Museum)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerFacilitating the Design Exchange Partnership between Carmody Groarke, Imperial College London, and AKT II for ultra-low carbon brick research.
• HoLD Art CollectiveminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPlay designers who designed creative play activities for under 8s inhabiting the ArtPlay Pavilion's internal spaces at Dulwich Picture Gallery.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Allies and Morrison: London-based architecture practice with strong cultural, educational, and urban regeneration portfolio. Similar size tier and overlapping institutional client base, regularly competing for the same public sector cultural commissions.
• WilkinsonEyre: London-based architecture practice with comparable cultural and infrastructure portfolio, including museums and public buildings. Similar size and similar competition tier for major UK public commissions.
• Lynch Architects: London-based practice of similar size focused on cultural, educational, and residential projects with comparable design sensibility. Direct competitor for the same tier of cultural institution commissions.
• David Chipperfield Architects: London-based architecture practice of similar scale with comparable cultural and heritage portfolio, including museum renovations (Neues Museum Berlin), library/cultural projects, and RIBA Stirling Prize wins. Both firms compete for the same institutional and cultural commissions across Europe.
• Grimshaw Architects: London-headquartered architecture practice with significant cultural and transportation portfolio. Competes for major institutional commissions and operates at the intersection of architecture and engineering innovation.
• Haworth Tompkins: London practice specializing in theatre, cultural, and heritage projects with strong RIBA award record. Comparable in scale and sector focus, particularly on adaptive reuse of historic buildings for cultural purposes.
• Feilden Fowles: London-based practice of similar scale with strong cultural and educational portfolio, including RIBA Stirling Prize-winning projects. Comparable size, sustainability credentials, and competition tier for major cultural commissions.
• Caruso St John: London-based architecture practice with comparable focus on cultural buildings, heritage adaptation, and high-quality residential projects. Similar size, similar client base of museums and galleries, and overlapping RIBA award recognition.
• Stanton Williams: London-based practice with parallel expertise in cultural and educational architecture, including university buildings, museums, and library projects. Direct competitor for the same institutional client commissions in the UK.

Broad incumbents

• Foster + Partners: Global architecture mega-firm headquartered in London with far larger scale and broader portfolio including cultural, commercial, and infrastructure projects. Sets competitive ceiling for major international cultural commissions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/carmody-groarke-limited

Compliance7 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 Carmody Groarke