Tony Kettle

Design Principal

Company:Kettle Collective

Nationality:British

Residence:Scotland, UK

Tony Kettle is Design Principal of Kettle Collective, which he founded in 2012 alongside Colin Bone, both formerly Directors at RMJM. Tony is an award winning British Architect probably best known for designing the Falkirk Wheel in Scotland, and the Lakhta Centre in St Petersburg, Europe’s tallest tower at 462m and CTBUH Best Tall Building 2021. The Falkirk Wheel is the world’s only rotating boatlift and was exhibited in the V&A for the 2012 Olympics and is in a fixed exhibit in the Dundee V&A. It has been featured on the UK £50 bank note and in the British Passport.

Tony Kettle – Design Principal of Kettle Collective

Tony was educated at Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland and went on to join RMJM Architects, where he worked for 25 years to become International Design Principal.

Tony has a particularly interest in the Passive Low Energy Design and set up the Kettle Collective Studio in 2012 to focus on Sustainable Thinking and has since been rewarded with two Queens Awards, the most recent presented by Prince Charles for Sustainability in 2021.

His international experience is extensive and includes many notable projects including the twisting City Palace Evolution Tower in Moscow, the Dubai International Convention Centre in UAE, and the landmark Dewa Solar Innovation Centre in UAE, which was winner of an RSA medal, amongst other awards for architecture and sustainability. Closer to home, Tony was part of the team on the Stirling Prize winning Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh alongside EMBT. Tony was invited to design the new Renfrew Bridge, an innovative cable stayed opening bridge over the Clyde which opened in May 2025.

DEWA Solar Innovation Centre Dubai, UAE

The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is the largest single-site solar park in the world based on the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model. The Solar Innovation Centre is an interactive hub for research, education, and tourism. Its striking, geometry-inspired design incorporates advanced sustainable technologies and has achieved LEED Platinum certification.

Following success in multiple new town urban design competitions across KSA and the Middle East, Tony was invited to be a Member of the ARP Advisory Review Panel for Central Riyadh Regeneration Program focused on developing conserving and enhancing the built heritage and looking at revitalising the public realm through new concepts for urban design inspired by historical models.

Tony is passionate about the built environment and about how design directly influences the way we live. He has recently been a guest speaker at conferences around the world in Bangkok, St Petersburg, London, Dubai and has spoken at Harvard University GSD.

The Falkirk Wheel Falkirk, UK

The Falkirk Wheel reconnects two canals 35 metres apart and serves as the centrepiece of a restored waterway between Edinburgh and Glasgow. Opened in 2002, it combines engineering and sculpture, symbolising the canals’ revival.

Tony is a patron of ‘It’s Good to Give’ a Scottish Charity who support children and their families affected by cancer. For which he designed the ‘Ripple Retreat’ in the Trossachs National Park in Scotland, which opened in 2017.

Tony Kettle’s design approach is rooted in a deep understanding of context, human experience, and the emotional impact of space. His core principles centre on creating architecture that is both purposeful and poetic, where form and function are inseparable. He approaches creativity as a collaborative and exploratory process, balancing bold ideas with technical rigour to deliver meaningful outcomes. Functionality is never compromised, but elevated through thoughtful design, while innovation is driven by curiosity, pushing boundaries in engineering, materials, and storytelling to create spaces that are both enduring and distinctive.

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