Haworth Tompkins is working with the Liverpool Playhouse on a Capital Refurbishment Feasibility Study that will safeguard the future of the 156-year-old theatre. We will be leading a multi-disciplinary team including Liverpool based architects MGMA, Charcoalblue as Theatre Consultants, Layer Studio as Landscape Architects, Local Engagement by Placed along with regular collaborators Skelly & Couch, Price & Myers and Gardiner & Theobald.
Following on from our work with the Liverpool and Merseyside Theatre’s Trust on the Stirling Prize-winning Everyman, this Feasibility Study is looking at how a refurbishment of the Playhouse could be an exemplar for similar age theatres across the world, demonstrating that you can improve the environmental credentials of a listed building and its accessibility, while also acting as a catalyst for a cultural regeneration of its surrounding area.
On announcing the appointment, Mark Da Vanzo, CEO of the LMTT Trust which runs the Playhouse and the Everyman theatres said: “We’re looking forward to working alongside the City Council, City Region and Liverpool BID to reimagine the Liverpool Playhouse for the future with the Haworth Tompkins team. Together with their partners, they presented a proposal that honours our heritage and place in Williamson Square, while bringing the theatre into the 21st century, for staff, artists, for audiences and the communities we serve. Having led on the re-development of the RIBA Stirling Prize-winning Everyman, which had accessibility and sustainability at its heart, we can’t wait to see what might be possible for the Playhouse.”
Speaking as Director Lead for the project, Lucy Picardo from Haworth Tompkins said: “We're thrilled to be appointed. We already have a strong attachment to Liverpool through our work at the Everyman, led by my co-directors Steve Tompkins and Roger Watts, and much experience working with listed historic theatres such as Bristol Old Vic and Theatre Royal Drury Lane. With a great team of partners on board, we're looking forward to delivering an ambitious, sustainable, practical yet joyous vision for the Playhouse and Williamson Square.”
The team will begin work immediately, building on our existing knowledge of the theatres and the city region, with the report due in Spring 2023.
Pembroke Mill Lane for Pembroke College, Cambridge, has been shortlisted for the 2026 RIBA Stirling Prize, the UK's most prestigious award for architecture.
Wonderful to see the new performance spaces at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) alive with performance, rehearsal and teaching.
Pembroke Mill Lane, Cambridge has received a RIBA National Award.
Haworth Tompkins has been shortlisted in two categories at this year's Building Design Architect of the Year Awards.
We are so pleased to see The Court Theatre continue to receive industry recognition, with multiple honours at Friday night's Property Council New Zealand Industry Awards, including the Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Judges' Choice Award.
In the second of three NLA articles, Tom Gibson, Associate Director at Haworth Tompkins, reflects on the practice’s international mass timber projects and the lessons they offer for timber construction in the UK.
Last week, Haworth Tompkins received the Dewi-Prys Thomas Award for our work on Theatr Clwyd in Mold, North Wales. The award celebrates the role of design in improving quality of life and supporting regeneration across Wales.
The redevelopment of Pembroke Mill Lane, Cambridge, for Pembroke College has been recognised with four RIBA awards, including a 2026 RIBA East Award, Building of the Year, Project Architect and the Conservation Award.
| 25.03.26 | Mass Timber Design Innovations: from fire strategy to carbon reduction, the challenges and opportunities of designing with timber. → |
| 30.10.25 | Construction Reaches Topping Off Milestone for the New Home of the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University → |
| 28.07.25 | Haworth Tompkins reveals plans for the redevelopment of Grade I listed De La Warr Pavilion → |
| 13.05.25 | Haworth Tompkins to lead design of affordable housing in £2.5 Billion York Central Regeneration → |