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Between 1993 and 1998, Wiscombe worked at the Viennese architecture firm Coop Himmelb(l)au as the chief design architect under Design Principal Wolf Prix. During this period, he contributed to the design and construction of the UFA Cinema Center in Dresden.[4] After returning to the firm as Chief Designer and Project Partner, he led several international projects, including BMW Welt in Munich,[5] the Musée des Confluences in Lyon,[6] and the Akron Art Museum in Ohio.[7] During this time, Wiscombe also received the MoMA P.S.1 Young Architects Program Award,[8] resulting in the construction of a large crystalline canopy in the P.S.1 courtyard.
Render of Qiddiya Performing Arts Centre at night (2024)
In 2006, Wiscombe established the architectural firm Tom Wiscombe Architecture (TWA)[9] in Los Angeles. In 2014, Wiscombe won second prize in the international competition for the Kinmen Passenger Service Center, Taiwan.[10][11] That same year, planning and design began[12] on the Main Museum of Los Angeles Art with Tom Gilmore, the developer known for the revitalization of downtown Los Angeles.
Partnering with Orange Barrel Media and MOCA, Wiscombe went on to win the West Hollywood Sunset Spectacular billboard in 2016.[13] This project operates as both a contemporary "bell tower" and a public space and combines site-specific art and interactive content with commercial advertising.
In 2018, Wiscombe, together with EYRC Architects, designed the megaproject known as Blockchains City for Blockchains, LLC on their 67,000 acres (270km2) property in Sparks, Nevada.[14][15]
Kinmen Passenger Service Terminal, 2014West Hollywood Sunset Spectacular, 2016-present
2019 saw the construction of Wiscombe's Dark Chalet, located on Summit Powder Mountain, for the founder of the largest independent solar power developer in the United States. The project is 362% energy positive, using breakthrough residential solar technology.[16] The Dark Chalet received the 2020 AIA LA NextLA Honor Award in the Single-Family Residential category.[17]
In 2021, TWA began developing The Flat Out Large (also known as Earth Protector), which takes on the dual housing and ecological crises of Los Angeles, with a new form of urbanism based on megalithic slabs, large-scale indoor-outdoor spaces, district-scale shade, and inner-city solar fields.[18]
Tom Wiscombe won the international competition for the Qiddiya Performing Arts Centre[21][22] in 2023. It is located on the cliffs of Qiddiya City near Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.[23] Tom Wiscombe Architecture is the lead design architect, in collaboration with executive architect Brewer Smith Brewer, Dubai. Construction began in early 2025, with piling nearly completed by August 2025. This project is based on megalithic parts leaning on one another, creating district-scale shade and microclimates beneath. The project is multi-functional,[24] including a 1,800-seat premium theatre, a 400-seat adaptable theatre, exhibition spaces, and education and outreach. It is one of the premier cultural buildings in Saudi Arabia, part of Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 plan, intended to diversify the economy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and instill fresh interest in the performing arts scene within the Kingdom and globally.[25]
TWA has produced designs for NEOM The Line,[26] along with other notable architecture firms like Morphosis, Coop Himmelb(l)au, DMMA, and Peter Cook. His work was exhibited at the NEOM The Line Exhibition in Riyadh in 2022.
ICON magazine, in its May 2009 issue, named Wiscombe one of the "top 20 architects in the world who are making the future and transforming the way we work." Wiscombe’s work is part of the permanent collections of the FRAC Centre Orleans, the Art Institute of Chicago, SF MoMA, and the MoMA New York. Wiscombe won AIA Design Awards for the Kinmen Passenger Service Center in 2014, the Main Museum in 2015, and the Sunset Spectacular in 2017. The Qiddiya Performing Arts Centre won a Chicago Athenaeum International Architecture award for culture and entertainment.[9]
Teaching
National Museum of World Writing, 2017Flat Out Large, 2021Orange Barrel Media HQ, 2020Dark Chalet, 2020
In 2022, Wiscombe and a fellow faculty member, Marikka Trotter, were put on leave from their teaching position at the SCI-Arc following allegations of labor exploitation after Trotter suggested that architecture students should work long hours for low pay during a recorded panel lecture. A petition was launched by students citing statements made by Trotter and alleging general malpractice at Wiscombe's architectural firm, TWA. This resulted in a school-initiated investigation by an external firm. Wiscombe released a statement on his personal Instagram account, acknowledging the need for change at TWA and ultimately resigned from his position. [19][27]
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