DK-Architects

What DK-Architects does

DK-Architects is a privately held architecture and urban design practice founded around 1990 and headquartered at 26 Old Haymarket, Liverpool. The firm operates as a traditional professional services studio delivering design, planning, and project delivery across residential, commercial, cultural, healthcare, leisure, masterplanning, and urban regeneration sectors. Its core capability sits in housing and mixed-use development, with additional expertise in sustainable design, heritage conservation, and contemporary architecture; a notable technical differentiator is the firm's delivery of The Lighthouse in Formby — the first UK building to employ vertical thatching at scale, executed in collaboration with the National Society of Master Thatchers. The practice is led by three Directors — David Gilkes, David Dickerson, and Jamie Thompson (promoted to Director in 2026) — supported by an Associate Director (Practice Manager), Associates, qualified Architects, Architectural Assistants, and a Studio Manager.

The firm serves a clearly identifiable mix of enterprise clients, with housing associations and registered providers (Guinness Partnership, Torus, Onward Homes, Great Places, ForViva, First Ark, The Riverside Group, Helena Partnerships, Plus Dane, South Yorkshire Housing Association) representing the dominant revenue segment. Property developers (X1 Developments, Neptune Developments, FP Homes), commercial occupiers (Acorn Insurance, Five Guys), and charitable or community organisations (Acorn Farm, faith-based clients) round out the client base. Revenue is generated through custom-quoted professional service fees on multi-year engagements, with no public pricing disclosed and no software or platform products offered. New work is secured via direct client engagement, repeat relationships, industry reputation, and competitive tendering — primarily across North West England with selective project presence in Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, Cheshire, and Kent.

The practice has completed over 400 built projects across its 30+ year history and operates from a single Liverpool office. Marketing is limited to a portfolio website, Instagram, and Twitter/X accounts, consistent with a referral-driven sales motion. The firm carries no external investment, no parent company, no subsidiaries, and no disclosed funding history; ownership is implicitly with the directing principals. Several staff members hold specialist responsibilities (planning and statutory approvals, health and safety, conservation, sustainable design), and the firm has accumulated industry recognition including Housing Design Awards in 2010 and 2019, a Building for Life Gold award, a Built for Life Kitemark, and a BREEAM Very Good certification on a flagship commercial head office project.

Name

DK-Architects

Legal name

DK-Architects

Website

https://dk-architects.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

DK-Architects is a Liverpool-based architecture and urban design practice delivering design and planning services for housing associations, property developers, and community organisations across North West England and beyond, with 20-33 staff and over 400 built projects in three decades.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Architectural Services

NAICS

Architectural Services (54131), Interior Design Services (54141)

akta.pro primary industry

Architectural Design Services (BPAHAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Interior Design Services (BPAHAKAB), Sustainable/Green Building & LEED Consulting (BPAHAKAG)

Keywords

• Architectural design services
• Urban regeneration planning
• Mixed-use masterplanning
• Sustainable architecture design
• Housing association projects

Headquarters

HQ city

Liverpool, Merseyside

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, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Architecture and Design Services: Professional architecture services including design, planning, and project delivery for private and public sector clients across multiple building sectors. Revenue generated through professional service fees for design work on residential, commercial, cultural, health, leisure, and urban regeneration projects.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

DK-Architects is an architecture and urban design practice that designs and delivers buildings, spaces, and places across commercial, cultural, housing, health, leisure, masterplanning, and urban regeneration sectors. The practice provides comprehensive architectural services from concept design and feasibility through planning, technical design, and construction delivery, with particular expertise in mixed-use master planning, sustainable and heritage-sensitive design, and navigating statutory approvals for housing associations, property developers, community organisations, and private clients.

Product overview

DK-Architects is a traditional architecture and urban design practice offering architectural services across multiple sectors including residential, commercial, cultural, healthcare, leisure, masterplanning, and urban regeneration. The firm designs and delivers buildings, spaces, and places rather than software products or digital platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Architectural Design Services End-to-end architectural design services covering concept design, feasibility, planning, technical design, and construction-stage delivery across commercial, cultural, housing, health, leisure, and community sectors. For housing associations, property developers, public sector bodies, charities, and private clients.
• Urban Regeneration and Masterplanning Mixed-use master planning and urban regeneration services delivering large-scale housing-led regeneration schemes and masterplans. For housing associations, developers, and public sector clients seeking community-focused, sustainable regeneration outcomes.
• Sustainable and Environmental Design Sustainable, environmental, and people-focused design services integrating BREEAM, Building for Life, and inclusive design standards into project delivery. For clients pursuing certified sustainability outcomes, reduced carbon emissions, and inclusive, health-oriented buildings.
• Heritage and Conservation Architecture Heritage-sensitive and conservation-led architectural services for listed, vernacular, and historic buildings, including refurbishment, extension, and adaptive reuse. For clients with conservation constraints, heritage assets, or vernacular design requirements.
• Planning Permission and Statutory Approvals Service Specialist service for navigating statutory approvals, securing planning permission, and managing external stakeholder engagement throughout the planning process. For housing associations, developers, and public sector clients facing complex planning environments.

Quantifiable outcome

• Building for Life Gold achieved at Warburton Hey scheme
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Falconer Chester Hall: Liverpool-based architectural practice with established portfolio in housing, healthcare, education and conservation. Direct North West competitor pursuing similar housing association frameworks and community-led schemes.
• Cassidy + Ashton: North West England multi-disciplinary practice covering architecture, planning and building surveying. Overlaps with DK-Architects across residential, commercial and heritage sectors and serves similar housing association and local authority clients.
• K2 Architects: Liverpool-based architectural practice with portfolio spanning residential, education and healthcare. Directly comparable regional peer pursuing housing association, developer and community clients in the same North West catchment.
• AEW Architects: Manchester-headquartered practice delivering residential, commercial, education and regeneration projects. Comparable in North West geography, sector breadth and target client base including housing associations.
• Brock Carmichael Architects: Liverpool-headquartered architectural practice covering housing, heritage, healthcare and masterplanning. Directly comparable in geography, sector mix, and mid-sized practice profile, competing for similar housing association and developer mandates.
• Pozzoni Architecture: Altrincham-based architectural practice with strong presence across housing, healthcare, education and commercial sectors. Comparable mid-sized North West firm frequently working with registered providers and developers.
• John McCall Architects: Liverpool-based architecture practice with comparable multi-sector focus including residential, healthcare and education. Directly comparable as a North West firm of similar scale, and explicitly referenced as a prior employer of a current DK-Architects Associate.
• Ollier Smurthwaite: Manchester-based practice with strong focus on residential, education and commercial architecture. Comparable mid-sized North West firm competing for similar private developer and registered provider work.
• Smith Young Architects: Liverpool-headquartered practice working across residential, commercial and community sectors. Comparable in geography, scale and client base, frequently engaged on similar urban regeneration and housing schemes.

Broad incumbents

• Stride Treglown: Large UK-wide architectural practice with studios across multiple regions. Overlaps significantly in housing, healthcare and masterplanning but operates at meaningfully greater scale, posing competitive pressure on larger regeneration tenders.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/DK_Arch
• Instagraminstagram.com/dk_architects
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dk-architects

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 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 DK-Architects