Today, our portfolio is more varied in use and scale than ever before, and always changing. Across 3 different studios, a collective focus on placemaking is now shaping civic architecture and mixed-use masterplans which look far into the future.
Our masterplan for Albion Square won unanimous approval from Hull’s planning committee. Our design includes 226 new homes and a large urban park, providing environmental and wellbeing benefits.
Our plan arranges four mixed-use blocks around the new park, designed to reflect the city’s history and respond to the surrounding context. Low-rise housing will harmonise with the existing Georgian terraces, and the Three Ships—the UK’s largest restored mural—will be returned to its original position.
Masterplan · Residential · Commercial
Ongoing
Hull, England
Client: Hull City Council
Boho Middlesbrough
FaulknerBrowns’ vision for the south Boho site in Middlesbrough will revitalise the area, creating a vibrant space to live, work and enjoy.
The project will provide 340 new homes, a hotel and 13,000 square metres of workspace and hotels. These will be set in the context of public gardens, an orchard and the historic market square.
The new developments will celebrate the site’s rich heritage and natural features while providing a high standard of contemporary living.
Masterplan · Residential
Ongoing
Middlesbrough, England
Client: BCEGI
Brett Wharf
Brett Wharf seeks to transform a traditionally industrial part of Gateshead into a thriving cultural destination. The project will provide 262 rental properties, offices, retail space, cafés and restaurants.
Given the site's position among heritage assets, our design seeks to integrate the buildings into the unique fabric of the area. Our design respects the lower pedestrian deck of the High Level Bridge: split over two buildings, the forms rise and fall as they move away from the listed structure.
Residential
Ongoing
Gateshead, England
Client: The High Street Group
Brian Clarke Academy
Located on a constrained site in Oldham, this 1,200-place academy provides a versatile space for learning, playing and socialising. The materials and form of the buildings reference the area’s historic mill buildings.
The masonry four-storey teaching block contains learning spaces, a generous atrium and admin spaces, centred around a double-height dining hall. This connects with an external courtyard with sports, play and social spaces, which is framed by two metal clad double-height blocks containing the main hall and sports hall. This careful design maximises space for sports facilities on a challenging urban site.
Education
2023
Oldham, England
Client: Department for Education / Cranmer Education Trust
Broadway Corridor Housing
Residential
2022
Vancouver, Canada
Client: CBRE
Coronation Park Sports and Recreation Centre
This velodrome was designed to demystify high-performance sport and make indoor cycling more accessible. The design team’s knowledge of both community and elite sports, particularly the inter-relationships between cycling and other sports, were key to winning this high-profile commission.
As well as the cycling track, the centre features a running track with views of the surrounding park, a sports hall, dance studios and a fitness suite, making it a dynamic venue for leisure and high-level training. The centre offers childcare, reducing barriers to entry, and spaces for meetings and social events, as well as a café with views of the sports hall.
Sport · Velodrome · High-performance
2026
Edmonton, Canada
Client: City of Edmonton
Crystal Palace National Sports Centre
Sport · Aquatics · High-performance
Ongoing
London, England
Client: Morgan Sindall
Dixons Trinity Academy
This integrated primary and secondary school represents a significant investment in learning and community in this historically deprived area of Leeds.
The site sits across the congested A58 road, presenting a design challenge, which we addressed by constructing a pedestrian footbridge to safely connect the second floor of the building to a stair and lift tower on the other side of the road.
The building is organised into three distinct areas: community facilities stacked vertically around a dining atrium with a Hellerup-style staircase, a primary school below and a secondary school above.
Education
2020
Leeds, England
Client: Willmott Dixon Construction
Doncaster UTC
Education
2020
Doncaster, England
Client: Willmott Dixon Construction
Grainger Market
Civic · Culture
Ongoing
Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Client: Newcastle City Council
Hull Community Diagnostic Centre
Civic
2025
Hull, England
Client: NHS / Hull City Council
Jesmond Bus Depot
Commercial · Residential
Ongoing
Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Client: Vistry
Kings Hall Leisure Centre
Sport · Aquatics
Ongoing
London, England
Client: Hackney Council
Lee Valley Ice Centre
Designed to double the capacity of the existing centre, this project includes two Olympic-sized ice rinks, a gym, dance studios, a community space and a café. It supports competitive skating, ice hockey and public sessions.
Visually, the building is a striking example of modern architecture. It is wrapped in a striking copper-hued band.
The centre is designed to support biodiversity: it is anchored by a plinth that incorporates bird and bat boxes and is covered in climbing plants that provide habitats for insects and birds. The rink is also the first in the UK to use filtered and recycled ice melt water to create and feed new wetland habitats.
The ice halls have insulated cladding, which helps to maintain optimum conditions for ice, and roof-mounted photovoltaic panels that provide green energy. The centre is fully powered by electricity, making it the most sustainable ice centre in the UK.
Sport
2023
London, England
Client: Lee Valley Regional Park Authority
National Cricket Centre
This venue is set to become a landmark for both Dublin and Ireland as part of the Sport Ireland Campus masterplan, providing Cricket Ireland with a permanent, world-class home. The centre will promote and support cricket at international, national, and local community levels.
Building on the existing high-performance cricket centre, which currently includes five synthetic nets, sixteen grass nets, and a fielding area, the new development will introduce key improvements, including an international-standard cricket oval and more spectator seating.
Sport · High-performance
Ongoing
Dublin, Ireland
Client: Sport Ireland
National Velodrome and Badminton Centre
This landmark venue will house the first indoor velodrome track in Ireland, creating a permanent home for Cycling Ireland and elite cycling athletes, while helping to promote the sport and its health and wellbeing benefits to the wider community.
Located on the Sport Ireland Campus in Blanchardstown, Dublin, the centre will be suitable to host national and small-to-mid-scale international cycling competitions, as well as a variety of other events. The building and surrounding landscape will create an iconic entrance gateway to the campus at the northern corner of the site, as part of a long-term plan for wider development.
A key aspect of the proposal is to construct the cycling track at first floor level, which allows direct access to the infield area. This maximises utilisation of the space, with the potential for a range of activities, including badminton, basketball and volleyball.
Sustainability has been integral to the design process, from the building form, through to the choice of materials and the design of the engineering systems. The building will use a passive and natural approach to reduce the carbon footprint in both construction and operation.
Sport · Velodrome · High-performance
Ongoing
Dublin, Ireland
Client: Sport Ireland
Newcastle Civic Centre
FaulknerBrown’s redevelopment of Newcastle Civic Centre sought to preserve and enhance one of the city’s most important heritage assets. The Grade II* listed building blends rich history with modern architecture, consisting of a tower and connecting low-rise base with a central plaza.
Our redesign extended the building’s capacity as a civic venue and improved environmental performance, reducing energy consumption by 30%. We created a new entrance to resolve circulation and security issues, adding flexible, informal seating and a public café.
We also enclosed the ground-floor colonnade with a frameless glass façade, creating space for meeting pods that are aligned behind existing columns to minimise their visual impact.
Civic
2020
Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Client: Newcastle City Council
Nijmegen Sporthal Plus
Sport
2023
Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Client: Municipality of Nijmegen
Nottingham Central Library
Our redesign of Nottingham Library transformed the space into a hub for creation and knowledge sharing. We achieved this by rethinking the layout in a logical way: people-based spaces are placed at the front of the plan, benefiting from natural light, whereas book stock and administrative areas are positioned towards the back. Group-based activities are clustered at the centre of the plan. This thoughtful design, which includes specific low-stimulus areas, aims to support neurodivergent visitors.
The library is L-shaped and spans three levels, connected by a central entrance. The different ‘zones’ are woven together by a feature timber ceiling—which, along with the metal chandeliers that crown the entrance, celebrates the region’s lace-making industry—and a book wall that runs the length of the internal perimeter. The open-cell ceilings are integral to the ventilation and lighting strategy, with lace-effect lights and swirl diffusers providing comfort and task lighting.
Culture
2022
Nottingham, England
Client: Nottingham City Council
Outer West Leisure Centre
We are working alongside Newcastle City Council and Morgan Sindall to deliver a new leisure centre in West Denton.
The project is currently on-site and is one of the largest investments in the area for many years. Once complete, it will offer the community new opportunities for sport, recreation, and social activities.
The centre comprises a 25-metre competition swimming pool, training pool and splash pad, with further facilities including a four-court sports hall, multi-use studios, gym, soft play, café and library.
Sport · Aquatics
Ongoing
Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Client: Newcastle City Council
Ponteland Schools and Leisure
This £43 million landmark project was one of the first integrated schools, sports and leisure projects in the United Kingdom.
The campus includes a primary school, secondary school and swimming pools shared by the schools and local community, as well as sports pitches and changing facilities for the town’s football, rugby and cricket clubs. Enhancing the versatility of the centre, there is also a library, café, climbing wall, soft-play area, fitness suite, sports halls and luxury spa.
The leisure facilities can be accessed separately from either side of the building, allowing them to switch between school and community use while maintaining the safeguarding of children.
Education · Sport
2020
Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Client: Northumberland County Council
Royal School Manchester
Education
2023
Manchester, England
Client: Seashell Trust
Smithfield Riverside
Masterplan · Commercial · Residential
Ongoing
Shrewsbury, England
Client: Shropshire Council
Sportcentrum Zanderij
Sport · Aquatics
2024
Ermelo, The Netherlands
Client: Gemeente Ermelo
SRCHN Senior Living
Residential
2025
Sooke, Canada
Client: Sooke Region Communities Health Network
Toronto and Parry Housing
Residential
2023
Victoria, Canada
Client: Aryze
University of Stirling Performance and Wellbeing Centre
This centre was part of a £20 million transformation of the University of Stirling’s sports facilities, which include national tennis and swimming academies.
The new building includes a fitness suite with more than 100 stations, three-court sports hall, indoor cycling studio, strength and conditioning area, and a state-of-the-art performance gym.
Users of the building also benefit from enhanced changing facilities and social spaces, including a café. The building’s glazed frontage exposes a central cylindrical drum with vertical timber fins spaced to create a concertina effect. This feature presents the illusion of motion and acts as a welcoming focal point in the entrance.
Sport · Education
2020
Stirling, Scotland
Client: University of Stirling
UNNC Sports Centre
FaulknerBrowns have worked with the University of Nottingham to develop the concept design for a new, landmark sports centre in the heart of their Mainland China campus.
We have drawn on our extensive international experience designing exemplar sports facilities to deliver the aspiration of a new 'Global Sports Park' that will further enhance the University’s established reputation as a leader in University sport. The proposals include an eight-court sports hall, fitness, squash and climbing facilities, as well as an indoor skate bowl and purpose-built e-sports suite.
Sport · Education
Ongoing
Ningbo, PRC
Client: University of Nottingham Ningbo China
Vernon Active Living Centre
Sport · Aquatics
2022
Vernon, Canada
Client: City of Vernon
Woolwich Tramshed
Culture
2023
Greenwich, England
Client: Royal Borough of Greenwich
Woolwich Waves
We collaborated with the Royal Borough of Greenwich (RBG) in the design and delivery of Woolwich Waves, a new state-of-the-art leisure centre and community hub. The building features an array of wet and dry sports facilities, including an eight-lane 25m competition pool, a training pool, several leisure pools, a split-level fitness suite, six-court sports hall, squash courts, exercise studios, a crèche, and soft play. In addition, the building provides expanded facilities for the adjacent Tramshed Youth Theatre, a heritage asset which we refurbished in 2023, including two new multi-purpose spaces, and a physical connection between the two buildings.
Woolwich Waves is the first phase of RBG’s ‘The Woolwich Project’ and sits as the heart of a transformational mixed-use scheme and comprehensive masterplan centred around a health and wellbeing vision; regenerating an important, under-utilised town centre site and creating a vibrant neighbourhood where residents can live, work, play, exercise and relax within walking distances of their homes.