Richards Urban Design

What Richards Urban Design does

Richards Urban Design Ltd is an independent, boutique urban design consultancy headquartered in Southampton, United Kingdom, led by Director Colin Richards. The firm provides professional advisory services in urban design, architecture, and planning, organised around six service lines: feasibility studies, detailed design, masterplanning, public engagement, outline planning applications, and development briefing/design coding. Its core deliverable is human-authored design work, differentiated by the use of hand-drawn and watercolour illustrations rather than standard CGI or digital visualisation.

The company operates a sales-led, project-based consulting model, earning revenue through fees paid per engagement rather than via retained contracts or product licensing. Customers span five segments: strategic land promoters, housebuilders, development companies, public sector organisations, and private individuals, with active projects ranging from 39-unit detailed applications and listed building conversions to 1,100-home masterplans and multi-phase Garden Town frameworks. Distribution is direct and relationship-based, with no formal marketing channel beyond the company website and the Director's LinkedIn presence.

Operationally, the firm is small (1–10 employees) and leans on a network of collaborating designers, artists, planning consultancies, and architectural/landscape teams to scale delivery. Embedded multidisciplinary working relationships with major UK planning consultancies including Savills, Quod, Terrence O'Rourke, Barton Willmore, White Young Green, Luken Beck, and Boyer Planning function as the primary project pipeline. Geographic footprint is national, focused on London, the South East, the South West, and South Wales, with stated willingness to take on overseas work.

Name

Richards Urban Design

Legal name

Richards Urban Design Ltd

Website

https://richardsurbandesign.co.uk

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Richards Urban Design Ltd is a Southampton-based, independent urban design and planning consultancy led by Director Colin Richards, serving housebuilders, strategic land promoters, development companies, and public sector clients across the UK via project-based fees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Urban Design Consultancy

NAICS

Architectural Services (54131), Architectural Services (541310), Landscape Architectural Services (54132)

SIC

Real Estate Agents & Managers (For Others) (6531)

akta.pro primary industry

Urban Planning & Master Planning (BPAHAKAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Architectural Design Services (BPAHAKAA), Urban & Regional Planning (Land Use, Zoning, Master Planning) (BPAIANAD)

Keywords

• Urban design consultancy
• Masterplanning services
• Planning applications
• Design coding briefs
• Feasibility studies

Headquarters

HQ city

Southampton

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. Urban Design Consultancy Services: Professional consulting services providing urban design, planning, and architecture advisory services. Revenue generated through project-based fees for masterplanning, outline and detailed planning applications, feasibility studies, and design work.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Richards Urban Design is a Southampton-based urban design consultancy delivering feasibility studies, detailed design, masterplanning, public engagement support, outline design, and design coding/briefing services. The firm works with strategic land promoters, housebuilders, developers, public sector bodies, and private individuals on planning and development projects across the UK.

Product overview

Richards Urban Design Ltd is an independent urban design consultancy offering professional advisory services in architecture, planning, and urban design. Rather than a unified software product, the company provides a portfolio of consulting service offerings including feasibility studies, detailed design, masterplanning, public engagement, outline design applications, and development briefing/coding. The firm operates as a traditional consultancy practice, working both independently and as part of multidisciplinary teams to deliver planning and design solutions for clients across the UK property development sector.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SavillscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPlanning and development consultancy working relationship. Richards Urban Design works with Savills as part of wider multidisciplinary teams on development projects.
• QuodcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPlanning and development consultancy partnership. Works with Quod as part of multidisciplinary teams on planning and development projects.
• Terrence O'RourkecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPlanning consultancy working relationship. Currently working with Terrence O'Rourke on development projects across the UK.
• Barton WillmorecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPlanning and development consultancy partnership. Collaboration on multidisciplinary development projects.
• White Young GreenminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsultancy working relationship for multidisciplinary project delivery.
• Luken BeckminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsultancy partnership for planning and development project collaboration.
• Boyer PlanningminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPlanning consultancy working relationship for project delivery.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Prior + Partners: London-based urban design and architecture practice working on masterplans and design codes for major residential and mixed-use schemes. Directly comparable in urban design focus and tier-one developer client base.
• LDA Design: UK landscape architecture and urban design consultancy delivering masterplanning for residential and strategic development sites. Comparable urban design service line and housebuilder/land promoter client mix.
• JTP (John Thompson & Partners): UK architecture, masterplanning and urban design practice focused on residential-led developments and placemaking. Comparable in mission, services and housebuilder / public sector client mix.
• Quod: UK planning and development consultancy providing planning application and development advice to housebuilders, promoters and public sector. Listed partner of Richards Urban Design; comparable planning-led service offering.
• Terrence O'Rourke: UK planning and development consultancy delivering planning applications, development briefs and stakeholder engagement. Confirmed project partner of Richards Urban Design with directly comparable client base.
• David Lock Associates: UK town planning and urban design consultancy providing masterplanning, planning applications and development briefs. Directly comparable scope and client overlap.
• HTA Design: UK architecture, urban design and landscape practice working on residential masterplans, planning applications and design codes. Directly comparable offering and client base of housebuilders and strategic land promoters.
• Allies and Morrison: UK architecture and urban design practice delivering masterplanning and design for residential and mixed-use projects. Highly comparable as a UK-focused urban design and architectural consultancy serving housebuilders and public sector clients.

Broad incumbents

• Savills (Planning Division): Global real estate services firm with a significant UK planning and development division advising on strategic land, planning applications and masterplanning. Confirmed partner; broader incumbent with significantly greater resources.
• Barton Willmore (now part of Stantec): Major UK planning, design and development consultancy offering masterplanning, EIA and planning application services. Confirmed partner of Richards Urban Design; broader incumbent with deeper resourcing and direct competition for similar commissions.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/richards-urban-design

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 Richards Urban Design