What Lumsden Design does

Lumsden Design is a London-headquartered, privately held design studio specialising in retail, hospitality, and experiential design for museums, cultural institutions, visitor attractions, and entertainment brands. Founded in 2000 (with some sources citing 2011), the firm operates from Thomas Ford House on Smithfield Street in Farringdon and has delivered projects across the UK, Europe, North America, and Asia, including work for Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery, MoMA, the British Museum, M+ Hong Kong, V&A Dundee, and the National Gallery. Its services span retail design, restaurant and bar design, experiential design, master planning and feasibility, exhibition design, project management, sustainability, and social value, with capabilities grounded in 3D modelling and visualisation, interior architecture, and themed environment creation. The studio has received the King's Award for Enterprise for International Trade (2026), the EuroShop Design Award Store of the Year (2020), and multiple Museum + Heritage, Cultural Enterprises, Blooloop, German Design, and Drum Design Awards.

The firm generates revenue through project-based professional services fees on direct enterprise engagements, acquiring clients via industry reputation, referrals, awards-driven PR, and selective participation in industry events such as the Blooloop Festival of Innovation. Notable commercial anchors include the world's largest Harry Potter shop at Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo (13,000 sq ft, delivered with Cod Steaks and Studio MinaLima), Netflix House (100,000+ sq ft experiential destinations in Philadelphia and Dallas opening late 2025), and ongoing retail and dining spaces at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London since 2011/2012. Ownership transitioned in 2023 via a management buyout in which James Dwyer, a founding team member and current Creative Director, became sole owner following the retirement of co-founders Callum Lumsden and Simon. The company is bootstrapped with no external investors, parent holding company, or subsidiaries.

Name

Lumsden Design

Legal name

Lumsden Design

Website

https://lumsdendesign.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Lumsden Design is a London-headquartered, privately held boutique design studio delivering retail, hospitality, and experiential design for museums, cultural institutions, and entertainment brands including Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery, and MoMA.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Experiential Design Services

NAICS

Interior Design Services (541410), Interior Design Services (54141)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Interior Design Services (BPAHAKAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Exhibition, Retail & Experiential Design (BPAHAKAL), Environmental & Experiential Brand Design (Retail/Exhibit/Signage) (MPAAAEAG)

Keywords

• Retail design services
• Exhibition design services
• Hospitality interior design
• Experiential design studio
• Museum master planning

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Design and Creative Services: Lumsden Design charges fees for design and project management services across retail design, restaurant and bar design, experiential design, master planning, exhibition design, and project management. Revenue is project-based and generated through direct client engagements with cultural institutions and entertainment brands.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Lumsden Design is a London-based experiential design studio providing retail, restaurant and bar, exhibition, and master planning services for cultural institutions, museums, visitor attractions, and entertainment brands worldwide. The studio combines spatial design, storytelling, and brand activation to create immersive environments, delivered through project-based engagements that span concept development, 3D visualization, and full project management.

Product overview

Lumsden Design is a design studio that offers a portfolio of services including Retail Design, Restaurant & Bar Design, Experiential Design, Master Planning & Feasibility, Exhibition Design, Project Management, Sustainability, and Social Value services. These services work together to create connected visitor experiences—shaping commercial and experiential frameworks that place storytelling and audiences at the centre. The company creates retail spaces, hospitality environments, and visitor attractions for cultural institutions and entertainment brands worldwide, with notable projects including Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo (the largest Harry Potter shop globally), MoMA Design Store, Netflix House, and Warner Bros. Studio Tour London. The studio does not operate a software product or platform; it provides professional design services delivered through direct client engagements.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Retail Design

Quantifiable outcome

• The Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo shop is the biggest Harry Potter shop in the world at 13,000 sq ft
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, supporting, key collaborator and core.

• NetflixflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Lumsden partnered with Netflix to design immersive retail environments for Netflix House — Netflix's first permanent, year-round experiential destination. Lumsden worked closely with Netflix over two years to develop the concept for the first US locations in Philadelphia and Dallas (opening late 2025), spanning over 100,000 sq ft per site. The partnership treats retail as a connective thread between immersive walkthrough attractions, VR gaming, competitive social experiences, live screenings, and food and beverage.
• Gardiner RichardsonsupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Lumsden collaborated with brand communications agency Gardiner Richardson on Dicksons' redesign, which coincided with a refreshed brand identity and new Northumberland store concept across 33 locations.
• Warner Bros. DiscoveryflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Lumsden has collaborated with Warner Bros. Discovery since 2011, raising the bar for experiential retail in visitor attractions. The partnership has produced the world's largest Harry Potter shop at Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo (13,000 sq ft), multiple Harry Potter flagship stores, themed restaurants at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London (Backlot Cafe, Hub Cafe, Chocolate Frog Cafe), and the Hogwarts Great Hall-inspired Food Hall. The collaboration involves Warner Bros., Lumsden, Studio MinaLima (graphic artists), and Cod Steaks (scenic makers) working together on major projects.
• Studio MinaLimakey collaboratorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Studio MinaLima, the graphic artists of the Harry Potter films, collaborated with Lumsden and Warner Bros. on the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo project. MinaLima contributed graphic design elements that brought the Wizarding World to life within the retail and dining spaces.
• Cod Steakskey collaboratorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Cod Steaks, a specialist scenic and prop-making company, collaborated with Lumsden on the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo project, creating over 5,000 props, models, scenic and thematic displays using over 90 artists and craftspeople. Cod Steaks has also worked with Lumsden on other projects including Grimm & Co.'s Emporium of Stories.
• MoMA (Museum of Modern Art)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016Since 2016, Lumsden has partnered with MoMA to create the retail spaces of the future — visionary, iconic, and commercially successful. The partnership includes the flagship MoMA Design Store in New York (5,200 ft2), Design Store NYC, Store on 2 (accessible only to ticketed visitors), and ten MoMA Design Stores across Japan within Loft department stores (2018-2021). Lumsden created a unique merchandising system and retail architecture that has become synonymous with MoMA.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Stufish Entertainment Architects: Specialist architecture practice for entertainment and cultural venues, with deep overlap in immersive show and themed environment design for major IP owners.
• Gensler: Global architecture and design firm with a large retail and hospitality practice — a much larger incumbent that overlaps with Lumsden's retail-design work for brands like Dicksons and TodayTix, but at significantly greater scale and breadth.

Direct peers

• BRC Imagination Arts: Experiential design firm building branded environments and immersive attractions for entertainment and cultural clients — directly comparable to Lumsden's themed-environment work for Netflix and Warner Bros.
• Luci Creative: Mid-sized experiential design firm focused on museums, visitor attractions and brand experiences, competing for similar cultural and entertainment-sector mandates.
• Thinkwell Group: Design and production company specialising in themed entertainment, museums and destination experiences, with comparable clients in the cultural and entertainment sectors.
• Gallagher & Associates: Museum, visitor centre and cultural attraction design firm with deep overlap in master planning, exhibition and retail design for cultural institutions.
• Mather & Co: UK-based design studio specialising in museum, visitor attraction and themed retail environments, closely overlapping Lumsden's cultural-institution and experiential design practice.
• Ralph Appelbaum Associates: Global leader in museum and exhibition design, working with the world's leading cultural institutions — directly comparable to Lumsden's museum-retail and exhibition work for MoMA, British Museum and M+.
• Batwin + Robin Productions: Design and production studio for museums, visitor centres and brand experiences, closely comparable in scale and service offering to Lumsden's cultural-sector practice.

Emerging players

• Land Design Studio: Multi-disciplinary design practice with cultural and retail design capabilities — a comparable but broader emerging player intersecting Lumsden's retail and cultural segments.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lumsden
• Instagraminstagram.com/lumsdendesign
• Xx.com/LumsdenDesign
• Facebookfacebook.com/Lumsden-144554115692711

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Lumsden Design