Architect EOI

Call out for Expressions of Interest: Architectural Services to support Hackney Empire during the Development Phase of our National Lottery Heritage Fund Development Grant.

Overview:

Hackney Empire is a Grade II* listed theatre and landmark cultural institution based in East London. We provide a year-round programme of theatre, music, comedy and community engagement.

Hackney Empire is about to embark on the Development Phase of a project, The Heart of Hackney, made possible by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players. The Development Phase runs from Nov 2025 to Oct 2026, with key submission deadlines in Q2 2026.

We are seeking to appoint an architect to support us through this Development Phase and support the preparation of a Delivery Phase application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

This appointment is for the initial Development Phase but is subject to a potential extension into the Delivery Phase from Apr 2027 - Mar 2029. Any such extension will be subject to funding and to a break clause between the end of the Development Phase and the potential Delivery Phase. Hackney Empire reserves the right to re-advertise for services for the Delivery Phase.

This project aims to address critical conservation and environmental upgrade needs identified through condition surveys. The appointed architect will work with the client team and design consultants to develop detailed proposals and briefs for the application and potential Delivery Phase, the key areas of which are:

• Specialist restoration of significant heritage features.
• Replacement of elements reaching the end of their natural life.
• Environmental upgrades to ensure the heritage building can continue to operate more sustainably.

To find out more about the role, please download our Expression of Interest Pack (PDF) here, download our Expression of Interest Pack (Word document) here, or via the links below. Site visits can be arranged during Dec 2025/Jan 2026.

Proposals should be sent to David Ferrier, Director of Buildings and Operations. Email: development@hackneyempire.co.uk including in the subject line reference Architectural Services EOI Submission – Hackney Empire, by 10am on Mon 16 Jan 2026.

Please also send us a completed equal opportunities monitoring form, which you can download below, with your application. This form is for statistical purposes only and will not be used in the assessment of your application.

If you need any of our recruitment documents in a different format, please email development@hackneyempire.co.ukor call 020 8985 2424 and we will send them over to you.