Haworth Tompkins has been shortlisted in the Innovation of the Year category at the AJ100 Awards, for the Modular Auditorium most recently used at @sohoplace. The new theatre incorporates a modular, highly flexible auditorium, the latest evolution of a widely-applicable system developed as a research project.
Aware that auditoria are becoming increasingly complex to design from scratch by non-specialist architects, we began studying an off-site fabricated kit of parts that could be assembled in numerous permutations to achieve different capacities, seating formats and staging options, each with dense capacity, excellent sightlines and clear acoustics. We conceived a highly compact, multi-tiered modular steel structure that could be deployed around three or four sides of a central seating, standing or performing space.
Working with specialist stage engineers and manufacturers Tait Towers in the US, we co-developed a detailed 3d digital construction model for the 800-1050 seat Bridge Theatre. The process allowed us to optimise steel weights and weld strengths, significantly reducing the embodied carbon of manufacture and transport compared to conventional stock sections. Wiring runs, ventilation ducts and hard-wired infrastructure were incorporated into the factory-made units, avoiding the need for time-consuming multiple trades on site and enabling a much higher level of quality control.
The system was modularised to container lengths for ease of shipping and assembly on site, allowing international opportunities for the use of a work-tested, highly effective auditorium. It is possible to achieve stand alone, plug-and-play auditoria ranging from 400-1200 seats using the same system. The latest version for the 600 seat @sohoplace, again manufactured by Tait and this time collaborating with Charcoalblue, uses similar modular components and built in infrastructure but allows the surrounding balcony tiers also to be simply demounted via folding wall bracketry, giving even greater levels of staging flexibility.
The result, according to early reaction from critics, actors and audiences, is one of the most intimate and most theatrically potent auditoria of this scale ever built.
Pembroke Mill Lane, Cambridge picked up two awards at the 2025 Brick Awards last night, including winner of the Education category for outstanding architectural design, craftsmanship, and innovation in educational spaces, as well as a Special Award for Excellence.
Haworth Tompkins is working with The Castle to shape a long-term vision for the future of its spaces, building on the facility’s already strong commitment to sustainable operations.
American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University, along with Harvard Capital Projects, Shawmut Design and Construction, Haworth Tompkins, ARC/Architectural Resources Cambridge, and Charcoalblue, marked a major construction milestone with the ceremonial topping off of the David E. and Stacey L. Goel Center for Creativity & Performance.
Haworth Tompkins picked up three awards at last night’s BD Architect of the Year Awards ceremony including the coveted Gold Award for the 'best of the best', as well as winning Best Architect Employer of the Year, and Higher Education Architect of the Year.
Rother District Council has unanimously granted planning permission and listed building consent for the De La Warr Pavilion Masterplan, launching this major capital project to transform heritage for community, creativity & skills that will both preserve its iconic heritage and transform it for future generations.
The Warburg Institute highly commended at the Camden Design Awards
Completing The Court Theatre: A Landmark in Ōtautahi Christchurch’s Cultural Renewal
HT is collaborating with Troubadour Theatres on two innovative, fully demountable theatre projects, designed for an 8–10 year lifespan, in Canary Wharf and Greenwich.
| 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 → |