Projects

We collaborated with an international team of production engineers to design a facility to house the manufacturing and assembly process for the wings of the Airbus A380—the world’s largest passenger aircraft.

Manufacturing such a large and sophisticated wing required a vast amount of space: the building has a volume of 2.3 million cubic metres and a floor area equivalent to ten football pitches. We worked with Airbus to ensure the space provided a world-class workplace for leading aerospace designers, manufacturers and engineers, with plenty of natural lighting, ventilation and external views.

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.

After many failed attempts at regenerating this contaminated industrial site, FaulknerBrowns won the opportunity to design the commercial heart of Bristol Harbourside.

The masterplan features three buildings with retail and restaurant space at the ground level, creating an engaging and active streetscape. The buildings’ upper levels have varying uses: 70 social housing units, a 180-room hotel and a large leisure space. 

The main challenge was integrating diverse uses above ground while maximising the retail frontage. Our approach animated these challenging typologies, providing a vibrant new hub on this waterfront site.

FaulknerBrowns’ aim for Carre de Soie was to revitalise this former industrial district into a vibrant retail and leisure destination. The 240-hectare site features a new horse-racing grandstand, pony club, skate park, restaurants, cinema and boutiques. The fact that every rental unit was let prior to completion speaks to the success of the development.

A flowing, steel lattice-work canopy connects the units and covers the main ‘avenue’, providing a modern, distinctive identity. The design prioritises sustainability and green spaces, and is pedestrian-friendly, making it a model for contemporary urban regeneration in France.

Chill Factorᵉ is the UK’s largest real snow facility, and the fourth FaulknerBrowns has built in the UK. The centre is divided into two: the snow zone and the surrounding alpine-themed leisure district, which hosts bars, restaurants, retail outlets and an indoor climbing wall.

The soft Alpine street meanders through the building, punctuated by climbing walls, bridges, rocky fins and authentic shop fronts, creating a warm welcoming journey into this resort. The snow zone, with views of its slopes maintained from the street, features three pistes to accommodate varying ages, abilities and activities, with the longest run measuring 180 metres.

FaulknerBrowns’ decision to move offices stemmed from the need for a more flexible and cohesive workspace that lent itself to collaboration between teams. None of the existing offices in the area met our needs, so, appropriately, we designed and built our own.

We believe this building was the first in the North East to embody Bürolandschaft principles—a German office design movement that centres flexible working over rigid layouts. The building is single storey and was originally divided into three parts: one Bürolandschaft space (to this day still accommodating all of our design staff), a library and secretary space. An additional suite housed the administrative staff, print machine, model room and coffee area.

Designed and built in ten months, the building’s structure comprises an industrial steel framework and the external walls are made of dark brown brick and bronze-tinted glass.

This project saw the regeneration of Durham City’s former ice rink site into an office space for National Savings & Investments, and new headquarters for HM Passport Office. The mixed-use masterplan also provides homes for 1200 of the agency’s staff and a new, attractive, riverside environment in place of a formerly derelict site.

The building combines modern architecture with a respect for the historic context. We ensured harmony with the surrounding cityscape, particularly the nearby UNESCO world heritage-listed cathedral and castle. The brickwork matches the local vernacular, and the zinc coated aluminium used on the roofscape and oriels weathers and darkens to blend with the surrounding slate and lead roofs. A clean, open-plan workplace with extensive glazing provides unparalleled views of the Durham skyline.

Underpinning the project is a focus on efficiency and simplicity. FaulknerBrowns helped to achieve this by pushing the agenda beyond the site boundary and building an alliance with adjacent stakeholders. By building these relations, we agreed to source 90% of the buildings’ annual electrical energy from the city centre hydro-turbine.

Janet Nash House is the European IT headquarters for global electrical business City Electrical Factors (CEF). The office is split into a north and south wing, each designed to uniquely support and stimulate the teams that use them. A 52 metre-long, glazed, airy atrium connects the wings and acts as a hub for interaction and innovation. The copper structures and porcelain panelling used throughout were chosen to represent a component of CEF’s core product—the electrical cable.

Employee well-being was centred in this project: we incorporated a fully equipped gym, healthy on-site café, outdoor terraces and cycle to work facilities.

We have been helping Market Halls, a UK start-up, to redefine the British concept of food halls. We carefully configured each space to celebrate independent vendors while creating a communal environment to share stories and enjoy high-quality and eclectic dishes. Each hall is authentic to its location, revitalising neglected spaces of architectural significance in London.

Designed in the 1880s, the ornate entrance hall of the Grade II-listed Underground station in Fulham Broadway had been vacant for six years before being sympathetically restored to create a vibrant and sustainable culinary destination.

We have been helping Market Halls, a UK start-up, to redefine the British concept of food halls. We carefully configured each of the spaces to celebrate independent vendors while creating a communal environment to share stories and enjoy high-quality and eclectic dishes. Each hall is authentic to its location, revitalising neglected spaces of architectural significance.

We regenerated a former department store to create Market Hall West End. Upon opening, it was the largest food market in the UK: the three-storey space can host up to 900 visitors. The top-floor has a retractable roof, meaning it can be converted into a rooftop bar in summer. Dedicated event spaces can be used to host video podcasts, interviews, and cooking demonstrations.

In March 2011, Monument Mall was a failing retail destination. Despite its location in the heart of Newcastle, it suffered from declining footfall and poorly configured retail units.

Property developers Hammerson invited us to apply our expertise in retail placemaking to transform Monument Mall into a prime retail destination that would attract aspirational brands. To do this, we reconfigured the internal layout, replacing some of the walkways with shops and restaurants with street entrances. This made them more accessible and gave the building a more active street presence, shifting away from the traditional enclosed mall layout towards an urban, high street feel.

This cultural venue hosts exhibitions, glass-making demonstrations and family crafts. Following its acquisition by the University of Sunderland, we were commissioned to breathe new life into the destination. 

Working with the university and Arts Council, we centred the design process around visitor experience, aiming to provide a reinvigorated cultural destination. We created an easily navigable landscape of galleries, interactive lecture facilities and creative teaching studios. The improved, intuitive layout has allowed for a variety of arts and cultural programmes and has increased visitor numbers.

The innovation forum aims to support the inception and early growth of new businesses, and provide a community hub that promotes engagement with science and industry.

The building contains flexible working units of varying sizes to provide companies with space to grow and develop, as well as a reception area, conference facilities, laboratories and workshops to support a wide spectrum of business.

A large, central café acts as a meeting hub for resident businesses, promoting knowledge sharing and collaboration. We carefully designed the building form and selected materials to create a robust and sustainable facility that plays an important role in the continued development of the region.

The Core was the first phase of the ambitious Science Central development in Newcastle. The brief was to deliver a landmark building to support start-up and university spin-out businesses. In response, we designed a concrete frame on a six-metre grid, providing flexibility for companies to expand without relocating. To support collaboration, the ground floor is designed as a flexible public event space for exhibitions, presentations, networking and meetings.

One of the most striking features of the building is the seven-storey, 27-metre-high living wall—one of the tallest in the country. The installation features more than 35,000 plants, attracting and supporting local wildlife and biodiversity.

This project involved a £120-million regeneration of residential, office and commercial spaces on Wakefield’s historic waterfront. FaulknerBrowns were chosen to lead this high-value redevelopment after two previous proposals failed. Our plan was differentiated by our strategy to deliver five independent, mixed-use zones—each of which was self-supporting in terms of access, infrastructure, parking and pedestrian connectivity.

The residential component comprises 400 apartments in a mixture of historic industrial structures and new build, with commercial units on the ground floors animating the interconnected courtyards.

The masterplan was sensitive to the history and natural surroundings of the site. We collaborated with conservation architects and David Chipperfield, whose Hepworth Gallery sits on the northern edge of the masterplan. The prominent apartment balconies are constructed from ‘flitched’ timber and steel in reference to the canal-side infrastructure.

Xscape Braehead followed the success of FaulknerBrowns’ previous Xscape projects in Milton Keynes and Castleford. The project provided the first indoor real snow slope in Scotland.

Similar to the other branches, we sought to integrate a variety of commercial and leisure elements alongside the snow slope to increase revenue opportunities and cater to different age groups and interests. The venue features a multiplex cinema, ten-pin bowling alley, indoor golf, restaurants, bars, nightclubs and shops. More ambitious leisure elements including rock and ice climbing walls, an assault course, a giant 3G swing, a skydiving wind tunnel, a trampoline park and a laser tag centre.

The building is characterised by the large, sloped cuboid structure housing the ski slope that projects prominently from the roofline, creating a distinctive visual landmark along the River Clyde.

Following the success of Xscape Milton Keynes, FaulknerBrowns were invited to deliver the next Xscape facility in Castleford, West Yorkshire.

Like the original centre, Xscape Castleford features a real-snow indoor ski slope, a multiplex cinema, a ten-pin bowling alley, a climbing wall, bars, restaurants and shops. For this location, we sought to attract an even wider mix of visitors by introducing an ice climbing wall, high-level assault course, trampoline park, kids’ soft-play area, and indoor and outdoor skateboarding parks, among other leisure offerings.

Visually, the building is defined by the prominent, purple-clad sloping roof profile which houses the ski slope. This angular design gives the centre a distinct visual identity.

Xscape Milton Keynes is a sport, entertainment and retail complex housing an indoor real-snow ski slope—the first venue of its kind in Europe. The slope is 170 metres long, 60 metres wide and covered in 1,500 tonnes of snow, making it the largest real-snow slope in the UK.

As well as the slope, the centre features a 16-screen cinema, a ten-pin bowling alley, a family entertainment centre, a nightclub, a gym, restaurants, bars and shops. This expands the centre’s commercial potential by attracting a wider mix of visitors.

Visually, the building is defined by its bold, curved roof structure that was achieved through a steel frame made from 5,000 tonnes of prefabricated steel. This design accommodates the facility’s main attraction and creates a striking skyline.