British Designer Thomas Heatherwick Commends Zygo for Redefining Underwater Audio

In the heart of King's Cross, London, you will find Heatherwick Studio, a multi-award-winning British design and architecture studio that’s home to over 250 architects, designers, and makers. 

At the helm is Thomas Heatherwick, a designer whose innovative work is behind a number of iconic landmarks around the world. Day-to-day, Thomas and his team are focused on improving the physical world around us, but he’s also interested in innovative products, one of which is his Zygo headphones. 

Thomas’s introduction to Zygo came while searching for a way to reduce the monotony of lane swimming. 

"How much can you stare at the bottom of a swimming pool?" he says. 

That's when he discovered Zygo, as the tool that could transform solitary swims into moments of engagement and learning. 

The technology was groundbreaking - broadcasting audio to low-depth water, defying the barrier of sound underwater. The versatility of Zygo allowed him to tune into radio, podcasts, and educational programs while swimming. 

Today, Thomas swims with Zygo as a counterbalance to his work life. 

"What I do by day is intensely engaging and collaborative,” he says. “Swimming is the opposite. It gives me time to be by myself and reflect, but now also to learn.” 

As a designer working in architecture, Thomas is always looking for gaps where projects can be created that improve people’s lives. 

"I have a friend who has a business selling luggage. He talks about how society had moved forwards so much in the worlds of science and technology and yet, it wasn’t until the 1980’s that we realised we could put wheels on suitcases. Seems so obvious now! But the best inventions are the ones that seem obvious once they've been created.  In a way, swimming and the ability to connect to the broadcast world was an utter inevitability, but there was a gap. As a designer, I'm always looking for gaps. And the Zygo team found and solved a great gap in the world of swimming."