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.
Brilliant news that the redevelopment of the Warburg Institute has been shortlisted for a RIBA London (West) Award.
The Warburg Renaissance Project transformed the Warburg Institute into a more open, accessible and public-facing institution, revealing hidden collections to new audiences and the public for the first time in its history, expanding capacity for 20 years of future growth and securing its cultural legacy through sensitive restoration, sustainable design and improved facilities for research, teaching and public engagement.
Pembroke Mill Lane, Cambridge has been shortlisted for a RIBA East Award.
Haworth Tompkins has three projects shortlisted at this year’s Pineapple Awards: The Developer and Festival of Place, which celebrate excellence in placemaking. The shortlists demonstrate the strength of our approach to placemaking and collaborative design.
Unanimous planning permission has been granted for Troubadour Greenwich Peninsula, a new 3,000-capacity performance venue designed by Haworth Tompkins.
Haworth Tompkins Associate Director Ken Okonkwo has been reappointed as a Mayor’s Design Advocate (MDA) for the 2025–2028 term, marking his second appointment to the role.
2025 was a demanding year for the built environment, but also one of real momentum for Haworth Tompkins. Against a challenging economic and political backdrop, the practice continued to adapt, collaborate and deliver work of lasting value.
The £2 billion York Central regeneration project has submitted the latest planning application for the next stage of delivery and includes Haworth Tompkins designs for Foundry Village; a walkable, street-based neighbourhood designed that will deliver 368 mixed-tenure homes.
Theatr Clwyd has been shortlisted for Theatre Building of the Year at this year’s Stage Awards.
| 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 → |