A London-based town planning and urban design practice, founded in 1978 by Francis Tibbalds and owned by its employees through a trust.
Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design is a small London practice of planners, urban designers and architects. Its website lists 24 services, including masterplanning, urban design advice, planning applications, heritage, neighbourhood planning, local plan evidence, design codes and guidance, town centre strategies, and training and research. A design code is a set of rules that makes sure new buildings in an area fit well together, and Tibbalds has written several, including the Breckland Design Guide and the Northstowe Design Code, a finalist at the National Urban Design Awards.
The practice was founded by Francis Tibbalds in 1978. Its words for what it stands for are "good places, made by great people" and "putting people at the heart of places". It says it is passionate about making people-friendly places and aims for a consistently high-quality service. It says that clients most often report that it listens, and that it cares about every project and community it works in. Its case studies include East Devon New Town, the National Design Guide, Bourne Estate Regeneration, Smethwick and Northstowe Healthy New Town.
Its registered office is 30 King's Bench Street, London SE1. We found no other office. Recent news on its site includes Marlcombe in East Devon being confirmed in October 2025 as one of the government's new town proposals, an appointment for the Riverside North Masterplan in Derby in September 2026, an appointment for the latest phase of the Hatfield regeneration in July 2026, and planning approval for sustainable homes in York in May 2026. So although the studio is in London, its work spreads across England.
Tibbalds is owned by its employees: its site announces an Employee Ownership Trust, announced in 2013 by director Sue Rowlands, who said it would give staff "a real sense of ownership of the business". That is an older item, and the current ownership details were not read. Its people page profiles 27 staff, and directors named there are Hilary Satchwell, Katja Stille and Lizzie Le Mare. The news pages feature opinion pieces written by staff, which suggests people are encouraged to share their views. Public sector clients can appoint it through frameworks including Homes England's DaRTS and Scape.
Work in a practice this size mixes planners, urban designers and architects, with project leaders and support staff. A small team can mean you see many stages of a project and get to work with senior people. Useful subjects include geography, architecture, planning and art or design. The site links to a Join our team page and to equality, diversity and inclusion pages that we did not read.
Website: www.tibbalds.co.uk
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