Neil Thomas

Neil Thomas is the Director and Founder of Atelier One, which has been described as ‘the most innovative engineering practice in the UK’. This innovation covers high-level research and implementation for materials in an enormous scale and variety of projects, often providing specialist advice to larger consulting practices.

On behalf of Atelier One and as part of a team consisting of Grant Associates, Wilkinson Eyre & Atelier Ten, Neil received the World Building of the Year Award 2012 at the World Architecture Festival – for Gardens by the Bay in Singapore. Collaborations with Architects, Artists, and Designers have resulted in many interesting built projects such as Gardens by the Bay, London 2012 & Sochi 2014 Olympics Opening Ceremonies, Cloud Gate with Anish Kapoor and ‘The Claw’ Stage for U2’s 360 Degree World Tour, with Mark Fisher.

Neil holds a number of high profile posts in the UK & US educational service, most recently being a Visiting Professor to Yale and MIT, and has co-written a book titled ‘Liquid Threshold’ which gives insight to the complex challenges of a number of extraordinary projects. Most recently Neil has been appointed by Leeds University as a member of a Steering Group to develop a new Architectural Engineering course. In 2014 Neil was elected Royal Designer for Industry for excellence and innovation in structural design and for sustained ingenuity as a structural engineer in collaborations to create ground-breaking public art. Later in the same year Neil received an Honorary RIBA Fellowship for both the excellence and the inventiveness of his contribution to Architecture over the past 25 years. In 2015 Neil was awarded Fellow of the Institute of Structural Engineers and most recently in 2016 honoured with an MBE on the Queen’s 90th Birthday for contributions to Architecture, Design and Engineering.