天津大学建筑设计研究院

What 天津大学建筑设计研究院 does

Tianjin University Architectural Design and Planning Research Institute Co., Ltd. (AATU / 天大设计总院) is a state-owned, limited-liability design institute wholly owned by Tianjin University, founded in 1952 and restructured into its current corporate form in May 2020. The institute provides comprehensive architectural design, urban and rural planning, cultural heritage conservation, landscape architecture, municipal engineering, full-process engineering consulting, and EPC general contracting services. It holds 17 national-level design qualifications — among the broadest scope of any university-affiliated design institute in China — covering architecture, urban planning, heritage conservation, landscape, engineering consulting, environmental engineering, tourism planning, municipal infrastructure, power engineering, geotechnical design, pressure piping, zero-carbon park evaluation, green building pre-evaluation, construction inspection, and drawing review. The institute employs over 1,000 professionals across its Tianjin headquarters, Sichuan Branch (Chengdu), and newly launched Jiangsu Branch (January 2026), supported by a Technology Innovation Center and a Smart Energy and Green Low-Carbon Research Institute.

The company serves a primarily public-sector and institutional client base, including universities (Tianjin University, China Agricultural University, University of Science and Technology of China), hospitals (Tianjin Medical University Metabolic Disease Hospital, the largest metabolic disease hospital in Asia), government bodies (Baoji Municipal Government, Yiheyuan Administration, Beihai Park Administration), and state-owned enterprises. Revenue is generated through project-based professional service fees, EPC general contracting contracts, and full-process consulting engagements. Distribution is predominantly direct sales to government planning bureaus, university infrastructure departments, and SOEs, supplemented by strategic joint ventures with large general contractors (China Construction 6th and 8th Bureaus) for EPC project delivery. International expansion is underway via Belt and Road projects in Uzbekistan and Mongolia. The institute also operates a proprietary prefabricated steel-concrete hybrid structure technology (11 invention patents, 14 utility model patents) and has begun integrating generative AI into design workflows through the Architecture Creation AI Digital Intelligence Working Group established in May 2026.

Name

天津大学建筑设计研究院

Legal name

天津大学建筑设计规划研究总院有限公司

Website

https://aatu.com.cn

Company type

Private

Founded year

1952

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

天津大学建筑设计规划研究总院有限公司 (AATU) is a state-owned Class-A design institute owned by Tianjin University, founded 1952, providing architectural design, urban planning, heritage conservation, landscape, and EPC contracting services to government, universities, and state-owned enterprises across China, with 17 national qualifications and 1000+ employees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Tianjin

HQ country

China

HQ region

Asia

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Revenue model

1. Architectural and Engineering Design Services: Project-based design service fees for architectural, urban planning, landscape, municipal, and heritage conservation projects. Revenue recognized upon project milestone completion. Major project categories include education buildings, cultural facilities, healthcare, sports venues, and urban development.
2. EPC (Engineering Procurement Construction) General Contracting: Total project delivery contracts where the company serves as general contractor for entire construction projects. Examples include Baoji Grand Theatre EPC project. Higher revenue per project but requires capital and project management resources.
3. Full-Process Engineering Consulting: Comprehensive project consulting covering feasibility studies, design consultation, drawing review, and project management from conception through completion.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

No factual information about the company's core offering was provided in the source input; this description cannot be populated without supporting evidence.

Product overview

Tianjin University Architectural Design Planning Research Institute Co., Ltd. (AATU/天大设计总院) operates as a comprehensive architectural design and urban planning firm offering a broad portfolio of interconnected services. The core offerings span six major business segments: (1) Engineering Consulting & EPC — including full-process engineering consulting and EPC general contracting; (2) Urban & Rural Planning — covering strategic/spatial planning, detailed planning, urban design, and tourism planning; (3) Architectural Design — covering education, cultural/museum, sports, healthcare, residential, office, hotel/commercial, TOD, reinforcement/renovation, and other building types; (4) Garden & Heritage Architecture — including landscape architecture, cultural heritage conservation, and rural revitalization; (5) Municipal Transportation — covering municipal engineering, road/bridge, water supply/drainage, and disaster prevention planning; and (6) Specialized Design Services — including green ecological design, BIM, prefabricated/assembled building design, geotechnical design, steel structure, electrical, water pollution control, building intelligence, cold chain, acoustic, night lighting, and curtain wall design. The institute also operates a Smart Energy and Green Low-Carbon Research Institute (智慧能源与绿色低碳研究院) for green building and carbon-neutral technology research, and has an internal Architecture Creation AI Digital Intelligence Working Group (建筑创作AI数智工作组) integrating AI into design workflows. All services are delivered through specialized departments and research centers, supported by 17 national-level design qualifications and a workforce of over 1,000 employees.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Xiaomi Vinegar Museum received 9 international architecture awards including German Design Award, Architecture Master Prize, and World Architecture News Awards
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• 中国水电基础局有限公司coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 May 2026Specialized exchange meeting held on May 25, 2026 to explore cooperation in prefabricated construction, steel structure design, geotechnical engineering, energy saving, and engineering leakage detection. Both parties aim to leverage their respective technical and platform advantages for multi-level practical cooperation.
• 国家超算天津中心coreTechnology or Integration · 10 March 2026Strategic cooperation agreement signed with National Supercomputing Center in Tianjin, leveraging supercomputing capabilities for design and engineering applications.
• 天津商业大学coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 January 2026Strategic cooperation meeting held on January 12, 2026 focused on 'dual carbon' (carbon peak and carbon neutrality) goals and green low-carbon development. Both parties agreed to focus on joint research, technology transfer, and talent cultivation in zero-carbon park development and related fields.
• 天津市民政局minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 November 2025Cooperation discussion with Tianjin Civil Affairs Bureau focused on urban renewal, asset revitalization, accessibility design, and fire safety performance design services. The institute aims to contribute corporate social responsibility through civil affairs projects.
• 合肥工业大学设计院（集团）有限公司minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 November 2025Exchange meeting held November 13, 2025. Both are university-affiliated design institutes sharing similar development models. Discussed exchange of management experience, technical cooperation, and market collaboration between similar university design institutes.
• 中建五局北京公司coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 October 2025Strategic cooperation agreement signed, expanding collaboration in urban renewal, architectural design, and project development.
• 天津长城服装集团coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 9 October 2025Project operation management contract signed for the Uzbekistan Haitong City project. The institute provides design and project operation management services for this major Belt and Road international project in Uzbekistan.
• 蒙古国PETROVIS石油公司coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 April 2025MOU signed at the 2025 SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) Sustainable Development Industrial Cooperation Conference for an international project in Mongolia, expanding the institute's Belt and Road Initiative project portfolio.
• 澳大利亚HASSELL事务所coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 October 2023Joint venture partner for the USTC Technology Business School (中国科大科技商学院) design general contracting project in Hefei. Project covers 91 mu land area with 188,000 sqm total GFA. HASSELL provides international design perspective while the institute delivers full design services.
• CBC建筑中心（都市更新（北京）控股集团）coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 March 2022The institute's Chief Landscape Architect Zhu Ling participated as a master designer in the Yulin Ancient City Renewal Plan master invitation competition. The competition was organized by CBC Architecture Center and Yuyang District Government, exploring urban renewal systematic solutions.
• 中建八局华北公司coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 August 2021Strategic cooperation framework agreement signed on August 26, 2021. The agreement covers investment and financing, planning, consulting, survey, design, construction, technology, personnel, and information sharing. Both parties committed to market-oriented collaboration with resource sharing, complementary advantages, and priority cooperation.
• 中国建筑第八工程局有限公司（中建八局）coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 December 2019Strategic cooperation framework agreement signed on December 23, 2019. The partnership covers joint EPC project bidding and delivery. Notably collaborated on the Baoji Grand Theatre project (4.13万sqm), China Civil Aviation University project, and Tianjin Haihe Hospital expansion project. Both parties leverage their respective strengths in design expertise and construction execution capability.
• 中国建筑第六工程局有限公司（中建六局）coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 December 2019Strategic cooperation framework agreement signed. Long-standing collaboration spanning 20+ years covering multiple construction projects including Tianjin University Sports Center, Tianjin University of Science and Technology faculty apartments, and others.
• 天津大学建筑学院 (Tianjin University School of Architecture)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 September 2019The institute is closely integrated with Tianjin University School of Architecture, sharing faculty, resources, and talent. Joint党支部 activities with the architecture school student party branches. The school's院士 Peng Yigang, academician Cui Kai, master Zhou Kai, and master Li Xinggang provide design guidance for major projects. Joint participation in Tianjin University campus development projects.
• 中煤邯郸设计工程有限公司minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 June 2019Party building joint activities between Design Institute 5 and the architectural design joint party branch of China Coal Handan Design Engineering. Conducted collaborative party activities including visits to 129师 (129th Division) headquarters site in Handan, with exchange of party building experience and design cooperation discussions.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Regional players

• Shenzhen General Institute of Architectural Design and Research (SZAD): Regional state-owned design institute headquartered in Shenzhen with comprehensive architectural and urban planning capabilities. Compares as a regional SOE design institute with similar qualification profile, though focused on southern China market.

Broad incumbents

• China Architecture Design & Research Group (CAG): The largest state-owned architectural design institute in China, a comprehensive national-level design group with broad capabilities across architecture, urban planning, and engineering. Operates at significantly larger scale with national reach, making it a benchmark incumbent competitor.
• Aedas: Global architecture firm with strong Asia-Pacific presence and major project wins in China. Represents the international design firm benchmark that AATU competes against for high-profile cultural and commercial projects, particularly when international design perspective is required.
• China United Engineering Corporation: Large state-owned comprehensive engineering design and construction group with architecture, urban planning, and EPC capabilities. Competes with AATU for major institutional and public infrastructure projects.
• ECADI (East China Architectural Design & Research Institute): One of China's largest national-level architectural design institutes with comprehensive capabilities across architecture, urban planning, and engineering. Major competitor for high-profile cultural, sports, and institutional projects.
• Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD): Major state-owned architectural design institute based in Beijing with comprehensive design capabilities and EPC services. Comparable multidisciplinary service portfolio and similar government/institutional client base to AATU.

Others

• HASSELL: International design firm that has established a JV partnership with AATU on the USTC Technology Business School project. Comparable as a peer for major institutional and cultural design projects, and a strategic partner rather than direct competitor in the Chinese market.

Emerging players

• Huashe Design Group: Growing Chinese architectural design group with diversified portfolio across architecture, urban planning, and consulting. Comparable in service breadth though smaller in scale and longer history than AATU.

Direct peers

• Tsinghua University Architectural Design & Research Institute (THAD): Tsinghua University's affiliated design institute, another top-tier university-affiliated design firm with comparable scope across architecture, urban planning, and heritage conservation. Direct head-to-head competitor for major university campus and cultural facility projects in China.
• Tongji Architectural Design (TJAD): Tongji University's affiliated architectural design institute, the most direct comparable to AATU as a leading university-affiliated Class-A design institute in China. Both operate as multidisciplinary design institutes with similar qualification profiles, project portfolios, and academic-integration models.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/%E5%A4%A9%E6%B4%A5%E5%A4%A7%E5%AD%A6%E5%BB%BA%E7%AD%91%E8%AE%BE%E8%AE%A1%E7%A0%94%E7%A9%B6%E9%99%A2

Compliance20 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about 天津大学建筑设计研究院