Spun Chair

Thomas Heatherwick is an award-winning architect and designer. He studied three-dimensional design at Manchester Polytechnic and the Royal College of Art. In 1994 he founded Heatherwick Studio, which is recognized for its work in architecture, urban infrastructure, sculpture, design, and strategic thinking. Since its foundation, the studio has gained an international reputation for elegant forms, inventive design solutions, and pioneering use of materials. Through this experience, the studio has acquired a high level of expertise in the design and realization of unusual projects, with a particular focus on a large scale.

The studio’s projects include The Rolling Bridge, Paddington Basin (2004), East Beach Cafe, Littlehampton (2007), the UK Pavilion at Expo 2010, Shanghai (2010), the New Bus for London (2010) and the Olympic Cauldron (2012). His portfolio is united by a sense of play, something he feels architecture today lacks.

Awards include the Prince Philip Designers Prize (2006), a RIBA National Award (2008), the London Design Medal (2010), the RIBA Lubetkin Prize (2010), and the Lend Lease Award for a first-time exhibitor in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition (2013). In 2013, Thomas Heatherwick was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to the design industry and elected a Royal Academician.