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.
Malmö Stadsteater HippodromenThe renovation of the Malmö Stadsteater Hippodromen has been announced as one of the winners of the prestigious Chicago Athenaeum International Architecture Awards in the Restoration/Renovation category.
Pembroke Mill Lane, Cambridge, has been shortlisted in the Education and Refurbishment categories at the 2025 Brick Awards.
Haworth Tompkins has submitted applications for planning and listed building consent for a phased Masterplan for the Grade I listed De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill.
Work has started on site for the new Studio Theatre at the Hexagon, Reading.
HT Associate Directors Hugo Braddick & Ken Okonkwo have been selected as Expert Assessors for the 2025 NLA Awards, in the Industrial & Logistics and Neighbourhoods & Areas cateogries. They, alongside their fellow assessors have been busy for the past couple of weeks reviewing the entries which will be presented to the shortlist jury who will select the final winners, commendations and special prizes, to be announced at the awards ceremony later this year. Run by New London Architecture with support from the Mayor of London, the Awards celebrate the people, places and projects shaping a more equitable, sustainable and prosperous London.
Haworth Tompkins has been shortlisted in three categories at this year's Building Design Architect of the Year Awards. The awards recognise architects for their commitment to providing a high-quality work environment and a consistent body of work rather than one-off projects. We're in the running for three categories; Best Architect Employer, Refurbishment & Reinvention and Higher Education for projects including Pembroke College, The Warburg Institute, Trinity Hall Masterplan, American Repertory Theater, King’s Cross Church and Malmö Stadsteater.
Haworth Tompkins is working with lead architects and masterplanners Maccreanor Lavington alongside Sergison Bates, Architecture Doing Place and East on the regeneration of the Aylesbury Estate in Southwark. The vast 28.5 hectare estate, one of Europe's largest, is being regenerated over a 30-year programme, providing 3500 new homes, of which over 50% will be affordable and prioritised for existing and former Aylesbury Estate residents.
Our appointment, through the Notting Hill Genesis Framework, delivers over 200 homes as part of Phase 2B, alongside a new neighbourhood park, with play areas, landscaping, and spaces for community use. Our plot includes a 25 Storey tower designed to maximise dual aspect homes.
Cllr Helen Dennis, Cabinet Member for New Homes and Sustainable Development, said: “I’m delighted to see these new high-quality, safe, and warm homes given the green light to go ahead on the Aylesbury Estate. It is vital that the estate renewal continues to progress, delivering affordable, decent housing and green spaces for Southwark residents, including existing Aylesbury residents and those on our housing waiting list."
Haworth Tompkins has been appointed by LDA Design to join the team shaping the new St George’s Gateway Framework – a major initiative to reimagine one of Liverpool’s most significant cultural and civic quarters. The project is being delivered in collaboration with Liverpool City Council, Liverpool John Moores University, and National Museums Liverpool, alongside a multidisciplinary team including WSP, Pegasus Group, Hatch, PLACED, and AspinallVerdi.
The framework will guide future development and investment across this vital city centre area, maximising public benefit and enhancing Liverpool’s unique cultural and heritage assets. It builds on recent transformational projects, such as the removal of the Churchill Way Flyovers, and seeks to place high-quality placemaking at the heart of the city’s future growth.
Lucy Picardo, Director at Haworth Tompkins, said: 'We’re delighted to be working with LDA Design and the wider team on such a significant piece of city-making. Liverpool holds a special place for us through our work on the Everyman Theatre, and we’re excited to bring our experience in cultural and heritage-led regeneration to this project. St George’s Gateway is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to shape a truly inclusive and vibrant civic space.'
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