A London architecture practice, now employee-owned, famous for theatres and cultural buildings including the Young Vic, the Everyman in Liverpool and Battersea Arts Centre.
Haworth Tompkins is a London architecture practice founded in 1991 by Graham Haworth and Steve Tompkins. It is best known for theatres and cultural buildings, but also designs schools, galleries, housing, offices, shops and factories across the public, private and subsidised sectors. Its projects include the Royal Court Theatre, the Young Vic, the National Theatre Studio and its temporary Shed auditorium, the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool, Battersea Arts Centre, the refurbishment of Kingston School of Art and Lambeth Archives.
The practice does not have a one-line mission on the pages we could read, but its public stance gives clues. Steve Tompkins is a founder member of Architects Declare, a group of practices committed to acting on climate change. The Everyman Theatre in Liverpool won the RIBA Stirling Prize in 2014, and the practice's earlier awards include the Young Architect of the Year at the Building Awards in 2001 and an Evening Standard award for innovative theatre architecture in 2007. Its work often reuses and adapts older buildings, as at Battersea Arts Centre, rather than starting from nothing.
Haworth Tompkins works from London, and its projects are spread across the UK, from London and Kingston to Liverpool and King's Lynn, where it is working on the Guildhall of St George, due to complete in 2026. The practice has about 80 people according to the source we read, which is an older figure, so check the current website. It has built close relationships with arts organisations in London, which is useful to know if you are interested in how architects work with theatre companies, charities and community groups.
In 2024, founders Graham Haworth and Steve Tompkins stepped down after the business moved to an employee ownership trust. The source says it is now run by Toby Johnson as managing director, with directors Lucy Picardo, Roger Watts, Joanna Sutherland and Chris Fellner, though that statement is marked on Wikipedia as needing a citation, so we have not confirmed it. Employee ownership means the people who work there have a stake in the business, a model that a growing number of British architecture practices have chosen.
The jobs here include architects and architectural assistants who design and draw buildings, project managers who coordinate construction, technical specialists, model-makers and visualisers, and the finance and operations team. If you enjoy drama, history, art or how spaces make people feel, the practice's theatre work shows how architecture can shape live experiences. Look at its website for current projects and any live vacancies.
Website: www.haworthtompkins.com
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