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| Hawkins\Brown | |
|---|---|
| Name | Hawkins\Brown |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Founders | Mike Brown; Russell Hawkins |
| Headquarters | London |
| Employees | 200+ |
| Practice | Architecture; Urban design; Interior design |
| Notable projects | Coal Drops Yard; Battersea Power Station redevelopment; University of the Arts London Central Saint Martins |
Hawkins\Brown is a UK-based architecture and urban design practice founded in 1988 by Mike Brown and Russell Hawkins. The firm is headquartered in London with an additional studio in Manchester and has delivered projects across the United Kingdom and internationally, engaging with clients from the public and private sectors. Hawkins\Brown works on a range of building types including cultural, residential, education, commercial, and masterplanning projects.
Hawkins\Brown was established in 1988 amid the architectural milieu that included contemporaries such as Foster and Partners, Richard Rogers Partnership, Zaha Hadid Architects, Grimshaw Architects, and WilkinsonEyre. Early commissions placed Hawkins\Brown alongside practices like Allies and Morrison, AHMM, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, and Herzog & de Meuron in debates about urban regeneration in London, Manchester, Bristol, Leeds, and Birmingham. Over the 1990s and 2000s the practice collaborated with bodies such as English Heritage, Historic England, Greater London Authority, Homes England, and The National Lottery Heritage Fund on heritage and renewal projects. Hawkins\Brown’s client list has included institutions like University College London, King’s College London, University of the Arts London, University of Manchester, Imperial College London, RIBA, and developers such as British Land, Ballymore, Canary Wharf Group, St James’s Group, and Westfield Corporation.
Hawkins\Brown’s portfolio features projects often compared with work by Buro Happold, Arup, Mott MacDonald, and WSP Global for their engineering coordination. Signature commissions include the regeneration of Coal Drops Yard in King’s Cross, a complex originally linked to Victorian railway infrastructure and projects involving Battersea Power Station adjacent to schemes by Creative Architects and developers like Qatari Diar. Other notable schemes encompass educational buildings such as the Central Saint Martins campus in Granary Square, student accommodation for University of the Arts London, campus work for University of Manchester, and mixed-use masterplans in partnership with LDA Design, Jestico + Whiles, and HLM Architects. Hawkins\Brown has also completed cultural venues and galleries in the tradition of projects by Tate Modern, Barbican Centre, Royal Opera House, and Southbank Centre, and residential projects across Hackney, Islington, Camden, and Southwark.
Hawkins\Brown articulates a practice influenced by precedents including Brutalist architecture exemplars such as Alison and Peter Smithson works and modernists like Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Louis Kahn, and Frank Lloyd Wright. Their approach engages with conservation frameworks overseen by English Heritage and urban strategies promoted by TfL, Urban Task Force, and civic authorities in Greater Manchester Combined Authority. The practice often balances adaptive reuse, sustainability measures aligned with standards from BREEAM, LEED, and Passivhaus, and collaborative processes involving consultants such as Sustainability First and engineering firms like Jacobs Engineering Group. Critics compare Hawkins\Brown’s materiality to practices including Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios and Caruso St John Architects for attention to craftsmanship and context.
Hawkins\Brown projects have been shortlisted for and received awards from institutions such as the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Institution of Structural Engineers, the Civic Trust Awards, the Royal Town Planning Institute, the BD Architect of the Year Awards, the RICS Awards, and the Architectural Review’s annual lists. Notable accolades have placed them alongside winners from PLP Architecture, HOK, Zaha Hadid Architects, David Chipperfield Architects, and Snøhetta. The practice has been recognised in regional awards administered by bodies such as London Festival of Architecture and national competitions run by Design Council and Homes England.
Hawkins\Brown operates multidisciplinary teams with roles comparable to those at AECOM, Arup Group, Atkins, and Turner & Townsend in project management and delivery. The practice engages with frameworks including Building Regulations in England, standards set by British Standards Institution, procurement routes like RIBA Plan of Work, and contractual relationships involving forms from JCT and NEC. Hawkins\Brown collaborates with contractors and consultants including Kier Group, Mace Group, Laing O’Rourke, Skanska, and specialist trades associated with conservation charters from ICOMOS.
Hawkins\Brown contributes to discourse via exhibitions and publications alongside organizations such as the Royal Institute of British Architects, Architectural Association, Bartlett School of Architecture, Design Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, and academic journals like Architectural Review, Architects’ Journal, The Architectural Review, and Building Design. The practice has engaged in research projects linked to funders such as Innovate UK, European Commission programmes, and partnerships with universities including University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, University College London, and Manchester School of Architecture.
As with peer firms including Foster and Partners and Zaha Hadid Architects, Hawkins\Brown has faced criticism related to development impacts raised by local authorities such as Islington Council, Camden Council, Southwark Council, and community groups like Voices for Change and Save Britain’s Heritage. Debates have concerned heritage impacts on listed structures overseen by Historic England, design scrutiny in press outlets including The Guardian, The Times, The Telegraph, and planning disagreements registered at planning committees and the Planning Inspectorate. Critics have also referenced tensions common to urban regeneration projects funded by entities like British Land and Canary Wharf Group.