London – Jan 2001
Chris Downs, Lavrand Løvlie and Ben Reason, three young designers, opened Livework to start something new: to establish service design as a ‘thing’.
Our success criteria was for it to be something that was bought by clients, taught by universities and copied by others.
Early clients were Orange, Sony and Experian all exploring what the Internet meant for their business and what new services could be created.
We also helped to launch Streetcar in the UK designing an experience that enabled them to be the fastest growing car sharing company in Europe.
NE England – Jan 2004
For three years we had a regional studio in Newcastle. Led by David Townsend, the studio delivered work in the public sector for Robin Mackie who was our partner at the regional development agency.
This was our first foray into public services – where we proved we could add value with projects ranging from employability, business support and healthcare services.
Oslo – 2007
Like salmon returning home, Livework spawned a new studio in Norway as Lavrand was joined by John Holager and Anders Anders Kjeseth Valdersnes.
The Oslo studio began a 15 year relationship with insured Genjidige to put customer centricity at the heart of the business.
São Paulo – Jan 2010
Livework opened in Brazil led by Luis Alt and Tennyson Pinheiro.
Among our first clients were Itaú Bank, who we helped set up the first design-led innovation department in Brazil.
Our Brazilian founders also created the first Design Thinking course in Latin America, at renowned business school ESPM.
Rotterdam –
Livework acquired design studio Zilver with the shared ambition of expanding service design into the Netherlands and mainland Europe.
The Netherlands studio quickly built up a roster of Dutch and European clients – from Gucci and Adidas to The Port of Rotterdam.
PWC acquisition of Livework Oslo –
Partnering with PWC on a number of projects proved the value of a design and management consultancy integrated. The natural next step was an acquisition by PWC.
The former Livework studio now PWC Design is thriving and helping PWC to win major transformation projects with Norwegian public services from the police to healthcare.
North America 2025
We have worked in the US with our Europe teams for many clients, including JPMorgan, Amgen and Kite Pharma.
Now we have partnered up with Paul Parker in Toronto to build our North American studio.
Early clients include UCB Pharma and Johnson & Johnson.