GROSS.MAX

What GROSS.MAX does

GROSS.MAX is a private limited landscape architecture practice founded in 1995 in Edinburgh, Scotland, by directors Bridget Baines and Eelco Hooftman. The firm designs parks, public realms, gardens, urban masterplans, and transport-hub landscapes for public-sector bodies, developers, cultural institutions, universities, and private philanthropies across the UK, continental Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and North America. It has won over 35 international competitions and is recognised for award-winning collaborations with tier-one architecture firms including Zaha Hadid Architects, AL_A, Grimshaw, and Stefano Boeri Architetti, contributing landscape design to landmark projects such as Dongdaemun Design Plaza Seoul, TAV Napoli-Afragola, Riverside Museum Glasgow, KAPSARC Riyadh, Shenzhen Airport East, and Eden Project Scotland.

The firm's core 'technology' is its proprietary design methodology rather than software: the 'Radical Picturesque' philosophy treats landscape as process and aesthetic experiment rather than static environmental remediation, supported by named concepts such as the 'Ecological Wonderbra,' 'Palimpsest of Time,' and 'Pixel as Pigment.' The senior team of five (two directors plus three associate directors) operates as a 'multinational in miniature,' combining British, Dutch, and German design sensibilities and delivering work across multiple scales from micro-garden to 80-hectare masterplan simultaneously. Project visualisation is digital from the earliest design stages.

GROSS.MAX generates revenue exclusively through project-based professional services fees: design commissions won via open international competition or direct invitation, with services running from concept and competition phase through to implementation. Pricing is negotiated per project and not publicly disclosed; there is no recurring, subscription, or product-licensing component. The firm maintains a portfolio website (grossmax.com), publishes through academic and trade publishers (Birkhäuser, Routledge, RIBA Publishing, Harvard Design Magazine), and relies on competition wins, awards, and partner-architect referrals as its primary demand-generation channels.

Name

GROSS.MAX

Legal name

GROSS.MAX.

Website

https://grossmax.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

GROSS.MAX is an Edinburgh-based landscape architecture practice founded in 1995 that designs parks, public realms, and urban masterplans for public bodies, developers, and cultural institutions internationally, primarily as competition-winning partner to tier-one architecture firms.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Edinburgh

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, Others

Revenue model

1. Professional Services - Competition and Design Commissions: GROSS.MAX generates revenue through winning and delivering landscape architecture and urban design commissions from clients (public bodies, developers, cultural institutions). Revenue is project-based, derived from design fees for competitions, master planning, concept design through to implementation. No recurring or subscription revenue model is disclosed.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

GROSS.MAX is a landscape architecture practice that designs parks, public realms, gardens, and urban open spaces for public-sector, developer, cultural, and institutional clients. Services span the full project lifecycle from competition entries and concept master plans through to detailed design and implementation, delivered through direct commissions or as sub-consultant landscape partner to lead architecture firms on major international projects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Landscape architecture and urban design commissions End-to-end landscape architecture and urban design services for public-sector, developer, cultural, and institutional clients, covering parks, public realms, gardens, and urban open spaces, delivered from competition entry and concept master plan through to detailed design and implementation oversight.
• International design competition entries Preparation and submission of entries to international landscape, public space, and urban master planning competitions; the practice has won over 35 such competitions since 1995.
• Urban master planning Large-scale urban master planning for regeneration of former industrial, docklands, and infrastructure sites, including the Zorrotzaurre Masterplan for the City of Bilbao and the Columbia Quarter / Tempelhof Airport ideas competition for the City of Berlin.
• Public realm design Design of civic public realm including squares, streetscapes, and urban parks for municipalities and developers, exemplified by Lyric Square (London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham) and Potters Fields Park, London.
• Botanic and cultural garden landscape design Landscape architecture for botanic gardens and cultural landscapes, including John Hope Gateway at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the Wakehurst Place Landscape Conservation Management Plan for Royal Botanic Gardens Kew / National Trust.
• University campus landscape design Campus landscape design for universities integrating new buildings into historic landscapes, exemplified by Chadwick Halls and the Library at the University of Roehampton (RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist 2018) and Imperial College London's White City Campus masterplan.
• Transport infrastructure landscape design Landscape design for airports, high-speed rail stations, and transport interchanges, delivered in collaboration with lead architecture and engineering firms; exemplified by Shenzhen Airport East Integrated Transport Hub (1st Prize 2021, with Grimshaw) and TAV Napoli-Afragola high-speed railway station (1st prize, with Zaha Hadid Architects).
• Architectural partnership landscape consultancy Sub-consultant landscape design services delivered to lead architecture firms on major international projects, including longstanding collaborations with Zaha Hadid Architects, AL_A, Grimshaw, Stefano Boeri Architetti, Allies and Morrison, and Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios.

Quantifiable outcome

• 35+ international competition wins across landscape, public space, and urban master planning
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers17 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Zaha Hadid ArchitectscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLongstanding collaboration on major international projects including Dongdaemun Design Plaza Seoul (2007-2014), TAV Napoli-Afragola (2003-2017, 1st prize), KAPSARC Riyadh (2009-2017), Riverside Museum Glasgow (2004-2011), Lambeth Academy (2011), and Zorrotzaurre Masterplan Bilbao (2003-2005). GROSS.MAX serves as landscape consultant on these projects.
• AL_A (Amanda Levete Architects)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on multiple projects including Illuminated River London (2016, finalist/honourable mention), Faith Park Tirana (2025, shortlisted finalist), Site Tour Eiffel Paris (2019-2020, 2nd prize), and Mumbai Museum North Wing (2014, 2nd place finalist). GROSS.MAX provides landscape design as part of AL_A-led teams.
• Grimshaw ArchitectscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGROSS.MAX collaborated with Grimshaw on Shenzhen Airport East Integrated Transport Hub (2020-2022, 1st prize 2021) and 2150 Lake Shore Drive Toronto (2018-date). Also collaborated on Heathrow Expansion project.
• Stefano Boeri ArchitetticoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on Urban Oasis competition win (2024) with Penta Real Estate for 3-ha mixed urban development near the Danube River in Bratislava.
• Edward Cullinan ArchitectsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on John Hope Gateway at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (2007-2010). GROSS.MAX designed the landscape for the visitor centre designed by Edward Cullinan Architects.
• Carlo Ratti AssociatiminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on Palazzo Mondadori landscape rejuvenation project in Milan (2022-date) with Generali Assicurazioni as client.
• Henley HalebrownminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGROSS.MAX collaborated with Henley Halebrown on Roehampton University landscape (2012-2017), including Chadwick Hall which was shortlisted for Stirling Prize 2018.
• Allies and MorrisonminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on Imperial College White City Campus masterplan (2016-date) and 2150 Lake Shore Drive Toronto (2018-date).
• CHORA / Joost GrootensminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on Potsdamer Platz Berlin (1996 competition) and Columbia Quarter/Tempelhof Airport (1st prize 2009 urban ideas competition).
• Feilden Clegg Bradley StudiosminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on Roehampton University (with MJP Architects and Fielden Clegg Bradley Studios) and Eden Project Dundee (2023-date, planning approved).
• Piet OudolfminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHorticultural collaboration on Zuiderzee Museum garden (2009, unbuilt) where Piet Oudolf designed the planting.
• Dave Mitchell (Horticulturist)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHorticultural collaborator on John Hope Gateway RBG Edinburgh biodiversity garden and Shuttleworth Botanic Garden.
• Sutherland Hussey HarrisminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on Penicuik Estate Landscape Vision (2020-2024) alongside Montagu Evans.
• Landscape InstituteminorOthersGROSS.MAX is a corporate member of the Landscape Institute (UK). Both founding directors Bridget Baines and Eelco Hooftman are Chartered Members of the Landscape Institute. Daniel Reiser is also a Chartered Member.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture: Award-winning San Francisco boutique landscape architecture practice of comparable size and conceptual design orientation. Direct peer for high-profile cultural-institution and corporate campus commissions.
• West 8: Dutch boutique landscape architecture practice with deep competition pedigree and a similarly strong European public-realm focus (e.g. Madrid Río, Schieoevers). Direct peer competing for the same European landscape, park, and urban-regeneration commissions.
• James Corner Field Operations: Boutique New York landscape and urban design firm with analogous international profile and competition-led growth (e.g. High Line, Freshkills Park). Competes for the same prestigious urban-regeneration and public-realm commissions as GROSS.MAX.
• Sasaki: Integrated design practice with a major landscape architecture and urban-planning group (e.g. Beijing Olympics, Atlanta BeltLine). Comparable in the type of international mega-scale landscape and urban masterplanning commissions that GROSS.MAX targets.
• OLIN: Philadelphia-based landscape architecture, urban design, and planning studio of similar boutique scale and prestige. Directly comparable international project work in cultural landscapes, parks, and urban masterplans.
• Stoss Landscape Urbanism: Boutique Boston landscape urbanism practice with a similarly conceptual design methodology and competition-led project acquisition. Directly comparable in scale and type of speculative urban and public-realm work.
• HASSELL: International design practice with a significant landscape architecture group and analogous public-realm, transport-hub, and cultural-institution portfolio. Overlap with GROSS.MAX in the same international competition-led landscape space, though materially larger.
• SWA Group: Large landscape architecture, planning, and urban design firm with deep international project portfolio and competition credentials. Overlaps with GROSS.MAX in the international large-scale public-realm and masterplanning space, though materially larger in headcount.
• Gustafson Porter + Bowman: Boutique London landscape architecture practice of comparable size, prestige, and public-realm focus (e.g. Diana Memorial Fountain, Hyde Park). Directly competes with GROSS.MAX for the same international cultural-institution, civic, and public-realm landscape commissions.

Broad incumbents

• Snøhetta: Architecture and landscape architecture practice with significant landscape capabilities across public realm and urban design (e.g. SFMOMA expansion, Times Square). Competes for similar international civic commissions and overlap in cultural-institution projects, though broader and larger in scope.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/gross.max

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 GROSS.MAX