Thomas Alexander Heatherwick, (born 17 February 1970) is an English designer and the founder of London-based design practice Heatherwick Studio. Since the late 1990s Heatherwick has emerged as one of Britain’s most gifted and imaginative designers. His innovative approach to design has earned him a reputation as an "ideas engine". Since 2010 Heatherwick has exhibited a knack for projects that are intimately connected to a sense of national or local identity. These include the Olympic Cauldron, the New Routemaster bus, the first new double decker bus commissioned for London in 50 years, and the UK pavilion at Expo 2010. Other notable works include The Rolling Bridge, East Beach Cafe, and a plan for a biomass power station in BEI-Teesside. Heatherwick works with a team of over 80 architects, designers and makers from a combined studio and workshop in King’s Cross, London.