We believe that a safe and healthy home is a fundamental human right, and that good housing and successful places are crucial to creating a more prosperous and sustainable nation. We design nature rich places with high performing buildings, and functional homes.

We are a practice of more than 200 people, bringing together the creative talents of architects, urbanists, planners, landscape architects, interior designers, engagement leaders and sustainability specialists, with a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement. We have been recognized as an AJ100 Employer of the Year in 2018, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

We put sustainability at the heart of our design process, and over recent years have accelerated our progress in reducing the carbon emissions associated with running our practice. We are recognized for our commitment to more sustainable design through the reduction of carbon in the design and construction of our projects and the running of our business, winning AYA Net Zero Architect in 2020 and 2022.

As a registered B Corporation we have made a commitment to a triple bottom line, by making the business more accountable to people and planet, as well as to the requirement to make profit.

HTA Design was founded in 2013, but brings a legacy of more than 50 years of innovation in practice.

Our founder practice was Hunt Thompson Associates, formed in 1969, by Bernard Hunt and John Thompson in London’s Camden Town. Ben Derbyshire joined the firm in 1973 and remained with the practice, leading the succession to HTA Design LLP in 2013.

Hunt Thompson were known for pioneering the practice of Community Architecture, where a concern to engage with the end users of housing projects, and public housing projects in particular considered avant-garde in the late twentieth century, has now become mainstream.  We continue to lead the field with innovative techniques of design engagement to enable a contribution from the communities we serve which enhances their experience and improves the product and outcomes.

Other innovations followed including a social research subsidiary (USER Research), the first radical rolling programmes of estate refurbishment and redevelopment, and community planning events. The practice evolved the influential Housing Quality Indicators, and launched, Design for Homes, which operated from HTA’s London studio for several years. Our engagement with the wider profession has resulted in contributions to writings and research across a wide range of housing related matters.

We became a Limited Company, HTA Architects Ltd in 1999, and then a limited liability partnership, HTA Design LLP in 2013. A new generation of partners has the led the transformation and growth of the business since then.