1st ProofTitle: BA: Architectural Design
Job No: PD0710-67/4028Chapter 3 final (3.5)_.qxd:layouts to chapter one 7/24/10 12:24 PM Page 152
The design projectConstruction and occupationHaworth TompkinsHaworth Tompkins is an architectural practice based
in London and established by Graham Haworth and Steve
Tompkins. The practice has designed buildings for the public,
private and subsidised sectors, including schools, galleries,
theatres, housing, offices, shops and factories. Both directors
give lectures on their work and Steve Tompkins teaches at
the University of Greenwich, London.
The practice is particularly well known for its innovative arts
projects. The productive nature of these visual, dramatic and
musical arts organisations has inspired Haworth Tompkins
to develop a design strategy of ‘provisional’ and robust
architecture that suits the creative activities and life of these
places. This thinking was further developed with several
temporary buildings, such as the Almeida Theatre in Kings
Cross, where an economic rough-and-readiness and the
stage-set quality of some elements (lent by the client’s
backstage crew fit-out), were both necessary and relished
by architects, client and theatre-goers alike.
Several projects to adapt existing buildings, such as the
Young Vic Theatre in London, have given Haworth Tompkins
the opportunity to consider innovative construction methods,
conceptual possibilities and the tactile effect of materials.
Theatre buildings that spring to life for every performance
heighten the architects’ sense that the building is only
really complete when it is occupied. As a result, Haworth
Tompkins’ design process is focused on the possibilities
inherent in the life of the building after construction rather
than as an idealised and empty architectural shell.Text
1st ProofTitle: BA: Architectural Design
Job No: PD0710-67/4028Chapter 3 final (3.5)_.qxd:layouts to chapter one 7/24/10 12:25 PM Page 152