Atelier One is an engineering practice founded by Neil Thomas in 1989 in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, England. The practice is described as "the UK's most innovative engineering studio."
It has achieved international recognition as a structural engineering firm specializing in highly complex projects. Its collaborations with architects, artists, and designers have resulted in notable works such as "Gardens by the Bay" (alongside Grant Associates and Wilkinson Eyre), the opening ceremonies for the London 2012 and Sochi 2014 Olympic Games, Anish Kapoor's "Cloud Gate" sculpture, and "The Claw" stage for U2's "360 Degree" world tour (with Mark Fisher).
Neil has taught at Yale and MIT and was recently appointed a lifelong visiting professor at his alma mater, the University of Leeds, where he serves on the steering committee developing a new architectural engineering curriculum.
In 2014, Neil was named a "Royal Designer for Industry" in recognition of his excellence and innovation in structural design and his enduring ingenuity as a structural engineer collaborating on pioneering public art installations. That same year, he was awarded an honorary Fellowship of the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) for the excellence and creativity of his contribution to architecture over the previous 25 years.
In 2015, he was made a Fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers, and subsequently, in 2016, he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the Queen's 90th Birthday Honours, in recognition of his contributions to architecture, design, and engineering. He received the Milne Medal in 2019 and, more recently, in 2025, was awarded the Ronald Sharpe Medal by the Structural Engineers World Congress (SEWC) in Shanghai.
Since visiting Bali over a decade ago, Neil has become increasingly involved in the design and development of bamboo structures. He is a regular lecturer at Bamboo U—an initiative linked to the Green School in Bali—where he teaches the engineering principles underpinning bamboo design. He recently authored the technical appendix for the book *Bamboo Contemporary* (published by Princeton Press) and co-authored an article titled "Advancing engineered bamboo materials for sustainable construction" with Professor Chunping Dai of the University of British Columbia (Vancouver).
In 2023, Atelier One received the Supreme Award for Structural Engineers from the Institution of Structural Engineers for the new Green School gymnasium in Bali, a project carried out in collaboration with Ibuku and Jorg Stamm.
