FAQ
What kind of projects does Anthony Clay Bureau take on?
Anthony Clay Bureau (ACB) is a Tallinn-based architecture and interior design practice that takes on residential, hospitality, interior design, and public space projects across Estonia. Project types include apartment buildings, hostel and hotel design, restaurant interiors, public squares, urban wayfinding systems, and masterplanning contributions. The practice is founded and led by Tõnis Savi, a chartered architect at Level 7 with over two decades of experience. ACB works with private clients, developers, municipalities, and institutions. For larger or more complex projects, Tõnis assembles a team from a trusted network of structural engineers, landscape architects, interior designers, and urban planners built over twenty years of collaborative practice in Estonia.
What is the relationship between Anthony Clay Bureau, ACB and ACB OÜ?
Anthony Clay Bureau is the name of the architecture and interior architecture practice, commonly abbreviated as ACB. The practice operates through the Estonian legal entity ACB OÜ, founded in 2014 and led by architect Tõnis Savi.
Who is the architect behind Anthony Clay Bureau?
Anthony Clay Bureau was founded in 2014 by Tõnis Savi, a chartered architect at Level 7 and an active member of the Estonian Architects Union. Tõnis studied architecture at the Estonian Academy of Arts and completed an exchange at the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Stuttgart, Germany. Before founding ACB, he worked at Koko Arhitektid and Allianss Arhitektid in Tallinn, and at Mutabor Design in Hamburg. He is also the co-founder of Liikuvusagentuur OÜ, one of Estonia's leading mobility and transport planning consultancies, co-founded with Marek Rannala and Raul Kalvo in 2021. He leads every ACB project personally — no junior team, no delegation. He is one of Estonia's most recognised voices on urban planning, human-scale cities, cycling policy, and street design, and has appeared regularly across Estonian media including ERR, Vikerraadio, Äripäev, Postimees, Õhtuleht, and Delfi.ee.
Does ACB work on interior design projects?
Yes. Interior architecture is a significant and growing part of Anthony Clay Bureau's practice. ACB treats interiors as a direct continuation of the architectural work — not a separate discipline applied after the building is finished. The same thinking applies: how does the space work, how does it feel, what does it ask of the people inside it. ACB's interior work has primarily been in the hospitality sector, including hostels and hotels in Tallinn and Tartu, and a recently completed restaurant interior in Tallinn. ACB is expanding its interior architecture work beyond hospitality into other typologies.
What is the difference between ACB Projects and Collaborations?
Anthony Clay Bureau makes a clear distinction between two types of projects. ACB Projects refers to projects where ACB is the lead author — full design ownership, full documentation, full creative responsibility. Collaborations refers to projects where ACB contributed as a partner alongside other studios or specialists, where another studio holds lead authorship. Every collaboration entry on the ACB website clearly states ACB's specific role and links directly to the full project on the lead studio's website. This distinction matters to ACB because architectural credit in Estonia is frequently ambiguous — large projects almost always involve multiple studios, and ACB believes in being transparent about exactly what it contributed and what it did not. This is not standard practice in Estonian architecture. ACB does it anyway.
Can ACB handle larger or more complex projects?
Yes. Anthony Clay Bureau is a small practice by choice, but not by limitation. Over two decades of practice, Tõnis Savi has built a genuine network of trusted specialists — structural engineers, landscape architects, interior designers, urban planners, mobility experts, and other architects — whose work he knows firsthand and can vouch for. On larger or more complex commissions, Tõnis assembles the right team from this network. The result is a small bureau with an unusually long reach: the direct founder involvement and personal attention of a solo practice, combined with the capacity of a much larger one. ACB has contributed to masterplans, school buildings, large residential developments, and urban strategies through this model.
Can ACB help with mobility or urban planning?
Not directly through Anthony Clay Bureau — but through Liikuvusagentuur OÜ, which Tõnis Savi co-founded in 2021 with Marek Rannala and Raul Kalvo, yes. Liikuvusagentuur is a dedicated mobility and transport planning consultancy working with Estonian cities, municipalities, and developers on cycling networks, street space analysis, accessibility studies, parking strategy, and sustainable transport planning. Because the same person leads both ACB and Liikuvusagentuur, clients whose projects touch both architecture and urban mobility can access expertise in both fields through one point of contact. If your project involves both a building and how people move through the surrounding area, get in touch and we will work out the right approach.
How much does it cost to hire an architect in Estonia?
Architectural fees in Estonia vary significantly depending on the scope, scale, complexity, and typology of the project. Anthony Clay Bureau works on a percentage of construction cost for larger projects — typically in line with the fee guidelines set by the Estonian Architects Union — and on fixed fees for smaller or defined-scope commissions such as feasibility studies, concept designs, and expert consultations. Early-stage consultations, feasibility checks, and site suitability assessments are also available as standalone services. The best first step is always a conversation. ACB is straightforward about fees and does not believe in opaque pricing. Get in touch and we will be clear about what to expect.
What is BIM and why does it matter?
BIM stands for Building Information Modelling. It is a method of designing buildings digitally in three dimensions, with all information about materials, structure, systems, and spatial relationships embedded in a single coordinated model rather than across separate drawings. All Anthony Clay Bureau projects are designed using BIM. This matters for several reasons: it reduces errors and contradictions between drawings, improves coordination between the architect and other specialists such as structural engineers and MEP consultants, makes cost estimation more accurate, and results in fewer surprises during construction. For clients, BIM means a more reliable process and a more predictable outcome. For contractors, it means cleaner documentation. For the building itself, it means better quality.
Does ACB work with private clients or only developers?
Anthony Clay Bureau works with both private clients and developers, as well as municipalities and institutions. The practice has designed apartment buildings for developers, hotels and hostels for hospitality operators, and has contributed to public space and institutional projects for municipalities and public bodies. The common thread across all client types is not the size of the organisation or the scale of the budget — it is the quality of the brief and the genuine willingness to think carefully about what is being built, why, and for whom. Clients who want a thinking partner rather than a service provider tend to find ACB a good fit.
What is Liikuvusagentuur and how does it relate to ACB?
Liikuvusagentuur OÜ is a dedicated mobility and transport planning consultancy co-founded by Tõnis Savi, Marek Rannala, and Raul Kalvo in 2021. It is a separate legal entity from Anthony Clay Bureau and operates as a parallel practice. Liikuvusagentuur works with Estonian cities, municipalities, and developers on cycling network planning, street space design and analysis, accessibility studies, parking strategy, and sustainable transport planning. It has worked with Tallinn City Government, producing among other things the Tallinn Bicycle Strategy 2018–2027, and has contributed to mobility planning in Tartu and other Estonian cities. Because Tõnis Savi leads both organisations, every ACB architectural project benefits from a founder who thinks not only about the building but about how people move through the city around it. That combination — architecture and mobility planning in one person — is unusual in Estonia and more broadly. Clients who come to ACB for architecture and whose projects have a mobility or urban planning dimension can access both areas of expertise through the same founder.
How does a project with ACB typically start?
Almost always with a conversation. Before committing to anything, ACB wants to understand the brief, the site, the budget, the timeline, and the people involved — both the client and the end users of the space. This is not a formality. It is how ACB decides whether a project is the right fit, and how clients decide whether ACB is the right practice. For some projects, the right starting point is an early-stage feasibility consultation — a site suitability check, a building volume test, or a sketch review of a brief before formal design work begins. ACB offers this as a standalone service. For others, the conversation leads directly into a formal commission. Either way, the process starts the same way: get in touch, tell us what you are working on, and we will take it from there.
Is Tõnis Savi available for public speaking or expert consultation?
Yes. Tõnis Savi is one of Estonia's most frequently invited expert voices on urban planning, street design, human-scale cities, cycling policy, and the relationship between architecture and public space. He speaks at government conferences, climate assemblies, municipal seminars, architecture events, and academic settings. He has appeared as an expert on ERR, Vikerraadio, commercial television channels, and current affairs programmes, and has been quoted and interviewed regularly in Äripäev, Postimees, Õhtuleht, and Delfi.ee over many years. He is available for conference keynotes, panel discussions, expert consultations, media appearances, and institutional training programmes. For speaking enquiries, contact info@bureau.ee.
What languages does ACB work in?
Anthony Clay Bureau works in Estonian and English. All project documentation, client communication, and design presentations can be delivered in either language. Estonian is the primary working language for projects within Estonia. English is used for international clients, collaborations with foreign studios, and for this website, which is available in both Estonian and English.
Where is Anthony Clay Bureau based, and where does it work?
Anthony Clay Bureau is based in Tallinn and works across Estonia. Projects have been completed or are currently under way in Tallinn, Tartu, Peetri, Võru, Mustla and elsewhere. ACB currently offers full architectural services, including construction documentation and author supervision, within Estonia, where the practice has its strongest knowledge of local building regulations and an established network of collaborators. For the right project, ACB is also open to international work. Outside Estonia, the practice can take on concept design, spatial analysis and earlier design-stage work, with the exact scope agreed according to the project.
How do I get in touch with Anthony Clay Bureau?
Email info@bureau.ee or call +372 5377 8773. We respond quickly. Anthony Clay Bureau does not have a public office address for walk-in visits — all initial meetings are arranged by appointment.