What The Liminal Space does

The Liminal Space Associates Ltd. is a London-based creative consultancy founded in 2012 by Sarah Douglas and Sam Livingstone that uses arts-based engagement and experiential design to translate complex topics into accessible public experiences. Its core methodology combines immersive installations, interactive experiences, workshops, and multimedia content with co-design and participatory design processes involving stakeholders with lived experience, community members, and domain experts. The company does not sell a unified software product; instead, it designs bespoke experiential engagements across health, science, climate, and social-purpose themes, with standout offerings including the Night Club sleep health programme for shift workers (its largest recurring programme), The Departure Lounge end-of-life installation, Cut + Paste genome-editing exhibition at the Francis Crick Institute, Meat Your Persona food-systems installation, Net Zero NHS futures installation, and the V&A East Storehouse experience for 16–24 year-olds. Revenue is generated through project-based professional services fees for commissioned installations, exhibitions, workshops, and engagement programmes, supplemented by per-shift freelance facilitator fees of approximately £300 for Night Club deliveries. Its go-to-market is sales-led and relationship-based, with clients commissioned directly across museums, research institutions, healthcare organisations, government bodies, and a growing roster of large corporate employers delivering the Night Club programme through multi-stakeholder consortium structures anchored by Wellcome Trust and Impact on Urban Health. The company reports no external funding rounds, no parent organisation, and founder-led ownership, self-sustaining through client engagements.

Name

The Liminal Space

Legal name

The Liminal Space Associates Ltd.

Website

https://the-liminal-space.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

London-based creative consultancy that uses arts-based engagement and experiential design to translate complex health, science, climate, and social topics into immersive installations and workshops for museums, research institutions, healthcare bodies, government, and corporate clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

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, Others

Revenue model

1. Creative Consultancy Services: Project-based consultancy fees for designing and delivering experiential engagements, installations, exhibitions, workshops, and research-driven public engagement programmes for clients across cultural, healthcare, academic, and government sectors.
2. Programme Facilitation Services: Freelance facilitators delivering Night Club programme workshops to shift workers across UK employers, paid per shift at approximately £300.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Liminal Space is a creative consultancy that designs and delivers bespoke experiential engagements, immersive installations, exhibitions, workshops, and public engagement programmes for organisations. It uses arts-based engagement and co-design methods to translate complex research, health, and policy topics into tangible experiences that transform how audiences think, feel, and act. Flagship offerings include the Night Club sleep health programme for shift workers and a portfolio of installations created for museums, universities, healthcare bodies, and government clients.

Product overview

The Liminal Space is a purpose-led creative consultancy that uses art and design to create unique experiences transforming what people think, feel and do. Rather than a unified software product, the company offers a portfolio of experiential programs, installations, and workshops. Core offerings include Night Club (a sleep health program for shift workers), various immersive exhibitions and installations (such as The Departure Lounge, Nine Lives, Cut + Paste), research-driven workshop programs (Job Design Lab), and participatory engagement experiences for museums, cultural institutions, and corporate clients. The company works across health, science, climate, and social purpose themes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Night Club An award-winning interactive education experience designed to communicate sleep health information and support night shift workers to improve their health, wellbeing and engagement at work. The programme visits employees at their workplaces and provides information and advice from sleep scientists and mental health professionals.
• The Departure Lounge An immersive installation inspired by travel and journeys, designed to start public conversations about end-of-life care and how we can support people to have a 'good death'.
• Cut + Paste An interactive exhibition at the Francis Crick Institute exploring genome editing technology, its potential benefits and ethical questions through games, activities and audience feedback.
• Net Zero NHS: Imagining the Future An immersive installation projecting visitors 12 years into a possible future of healthcare on its way to achieving net zero, designed to provoke dialogue among policymakers.
• Meat Your Persona A pop-up installation engaging the public with research on the environmental and health impact of food choices, helping visitors reflect on their eating habits.
• My Body My Life A travelling pop-up installation designed to normalise experiences of abortion and challenge stigma through capturing and sharing women's stories via a fashion boutique concept.
• Job Design Lab A training and learning experience aimed at facilitating conversations between employers and employees about the future of work and AI's impact on the workplace.
• Nine Lives An abstract audio portrait experience following the lives of nine strangers as they try to make sense of the world around them, using experimental field recordings and original musical compositions to illustrate each portrait.

Quantifiable outcome

• Night Club has worked with 25+ employer partners and made recommendations to Parliament on night worker health
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers16 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

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Co-opcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Night Club consortium partner providing corporate perspective on shift worker health. Co-op CEO Steve Murrells described Night Club as 'one of the most innovative initiatives I've seen'.
• NHSmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNight Club consortium partner representing healthcare sector shift workers. NHS staff benefit from sleep health education and wellbeing programmes.
• Thames WatermajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNight Club consortium partner engaging utility sector shift workers with sleep health programmes.
• Transport for LondonmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNight Club consortium partner engaging transport sector shift workers with sleep health and wellbeing initiatives.
• GXOmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNight Club consortium partner engaging logistics sector shift workers with sleep health programmes.
• ARIA (Advanced Research + Invention Agency)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Liminal Space is the embedded community engagement partner for government-funded ARIA. Working on a three-year programme supporting climate cooling research teams to engage communities meaningfully.
• University of Oxford Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience InstitutemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner providing scientific expertise for Night Club sleep health programme.
• Francis Crick InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing collaboration including Cut + Paste genome editing exhibition, Net Zero NHS, and Cell Yourself stem cell science engagement projects.
• Ipsos MORImajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing collaboration on public dialogue and research projects including Future Flight, Living Landscapes, and Genome Edited Foods.
• MAGNET (Museums and Galleries Network for Exhibition Touring)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioned to pioneer new model for touring exhibitions with Human Natures exhibition travelling to five museums across England.
• National Museums NI (Ulster Museum)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on Bout Ye? community engagement project helping museum futureproof and connect with local communities.
• V&AcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDesigned V&A East Storehouse experience for 16-24 year olds. Ongoing collaboration on museum engagement initiatives.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• IDEO: Large international design and innovation firm with established human-centred design methodology; broader incumbent that designs experiences across sectors but does not focus on arts-based public engagement for cultural and health institutions.
• Pentagram: Global design consultancy operating across brand, exhibition, and editorial design for major institutions; broader incumbent offering design services at scale rather than specialised arts-based engagement.

Direct peers

• Event Communications: UK-based exhibition and experience design firm producing interpretive and immersive visitor experiences for museums, science centres, and cultural institutions, with directly comparable deliverables to Liminal's installations for V&A, Natural History Museum, and Francis Crick.
• Mather & Co: Specialist museum and exhibition design consultancy working with cultural institutions on exhibition concept development and visitor experience design; a close peer in scope and target market.
• Land Design Studio: Exhibition and interior design practice delivering interpretive experiences and installations for museums, galleries, and cultural venues; directly comparable methodology and client base to Liminal's exhibition work.
• The Audience Agency: UK audience development and engagement consultancy for cultural and creative sectors, providing data-driven audience insight and engagement strategy to museums and performing arts organizations; close peer to Liminal's cultural-segment work.
• Ralph Appelbaum Associates: International museum and exhibition design practice designing narrative experiences for science, history, and cultural institutions; directly comparable offering to Liminal's exhibition work for Francis Crick, Natural History Museum, and others.
• BOP Consulting: UK cultural sector consultancy providing research, evaluation, and strategic advisory to museums, galleries, and creative organizations; overlaps directly with Liminal's cultural-institution engagements and strategy work.
• Morris Hargreaves McIntyre: Cultural sector strategy and audience insight consultancy serving UK museums, galleries, and heritage organizations; comparable strategic-advisory work and target clients to Liminal's museum engagements.

Emerging players

• Involve: UK public participation and engagement consultancy designing deliberation processes for policy and research institutions; overlaps with Liminal's policy-dialogue and public-engagement work on sensitive topics like health and science.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TheLiminalSpace
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-liminal-space
• Instagraminstagram.com/theliminalspace

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles21 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 The Liminal Space