About
New-works was founded by Architects Tom Lewith and Doug Hodgson to explore new ways working in architectural practice.
We believed the established model of all-services architectural general-practice needed to evolve to respond positively and proactively to an inflection moment in the profession: The climate crisis; a growing need to focus on wellbeing in the industry; the financially precarious nature of conventional architectural practice; and the Building Safety Act demanded fundamental change.
New-works was formed to explore a new way of working. One that benefits our clients, ourselves and the buildings we design. We believe in specialising and collaborating, and in the power of wellbeing and sustainability.
Our passion and greatest contribution is in the creative process of resolving the architectural ambition of a project. By focusing our enthusiasm and energy on this stage we have the space to address these generational challenges while delivering our clients’ ambitions.
The studio builds teams of talented delivery practices, manufacturers and makers specific to each project, giving each collaborator the space to contribute where they are strongest.
We have found this approach particularly well aligned with our clients’ priorities and the project types we work on, which mirror that of TDO (New-works predecessor).
Our firm belief is that wellbeing in the workplace generates better relationships and better architecture. The studio follows a daily rhythm that fosters creativity and wellbeing. The morning is for deep collaborative work, the afternoon for emails and correspondence. The working day is 10am - 5pm with the an hour at the start and end of the day for personal wellbeing: walks, meditation, exercise, exploring interests, visiting galleries and other sources of inspiration.
New-works is founded on the principles of specialism and collaboration, wellbeing and sustainability.
In 2010, prior to New-works, Tom and Doug co-founded TDO, a full-services architecture practice that regularly featured in the architectural press. Its reputation was built on its completed projects: contemporary additions to historic settings - through retrofit and new build - and as innovators with Modern Methods of Construction. The portfolio encompassed residential, workplace and community focused schemes of varying sizes. The success of the practice and its work led to both Tom and Doug being named in The Architects’ Journal ‘40 under 40’, and the studio featuring in the Architecture Foundation’s ‘New Architects 3’. TDO’s built work also featured in industry research publications and building studies. The last major project completed by the studio, Great Suffolk Yard, was described by The Architects’ Journal as a ‘contemporary idiom of originality and consequence’.
Doug Hodgson
BSc(Hons) DipArch ARB RIBA Founding Director
Doug is a Chartered Architect and co-founder of New-works. Between 2010 and 2024 he co-founded and ran TDO, a leading all-services architecture studio, which featured regularly in the architectural press.
Between 2015 and 2018 he was a Design Fellow at Cambridge University. In 2020 he was named in The Architects’ Journal 40 under 40, a major survey of the nation’s brightest talent.
In 2025 Doug was elected as RIBA London Chair for the term 2026-28. In his capacity as Chair, Doug has convened a Special Interest Group of construction industry leaders to explore the urgent question of the Ethical Renewal of Practice.
Doug is passionate about improving mental health and wellbeing in the profession, one of the founding principles of New-works.
His experiences as a member of the LGBTQ+ community in the construction industry have strengthened his belief in the need for greater kindness and a sense of belonging for all. He believes space needs to be made for the LGBTQ+ members of the construction industry, which mirrors a wider national need, and he is actively engaged in bringing about this change.
Doug leads New-works retrofit agenda. His long standing passion for retrofit has developed through leading Great Suffolk Yard and more recently the successful detailed planning consent for Abbey House: a deep retrofit and mass timber extension to a 1960’s office building, significantly improving its performance, the wellbeing of the occupants and the building’s contribution to the Conservation Area.
Tom is a Chartered Architect and co-founder of New-works. Between 2010 and 2024 he co-founded and ran TDO, a leading all-services architecture studio, which featured regularly in the architectural press.
In 2020 he was named in The Architects’ Journal 40 under 40, a major survey of the nation’s brightest talent. Tom sits on the London Borough of Bromley’s Design Review Panel.
Tom believes passionately in the power of specialising and collaborating, one of the founding principles of New-works.
In 2024 Tom co-founded the collaboration Fieldwork, made up of New-works, AMR and Augarde & Partners. The collaboration combines the team’s complimentary skillsets to offer self-funded professional development services to asset rich, cash poor landowners. The collaboration shares financial risk with the landowners while pursuing shared priorities for their legacy: sustainability, community, and wellbeing alongside commercial gain.
Innovation in MMC is a passion of Tom’s that continues from TDO. The studio’s innovative built work with MMC included FAB house for Urban Splash and the Low Line arches, both of which featured in industry research studies and publications. Tom is leading on the potential applications of MMC with the practice’s Low Line arches projects, and as New-works lead for Human Nature’s groundbreaking mass-timber Phoenix project in Lewes.
Tom Lewith
BSc(Hons) MA(RCA) ARB RIBA Founding Director
Olly Hartley
BA(Hons) MArch Part II Architectural Assistant
Olly is New-works Sustainability Lead, currently working towards his Part III qualification as an Architect. Olly gained his first class undergraduate architecture degree at Sheffield University and his postgraduate Masters at the leading innovative design school, The London School of Architecture.
Olly has been shortlisted for the RIBA President’s Silver Medal: the world’s the most prestigious architectural education awards.
Prior to New-works Olly was a Part I Architectural Assistant at TDO for three years. Olly is an exceptionally talented designer with maturity and capabilities beyond his years, producing work with diligence, skill and incredible efficiency. He is a considerate and clear communicator and proven himself to be a client and collaborator favourite across all his projects. Olly’s passions include regenerative design, which was a focus of his during his Masters.
He brings these invaluable skills to New-works in running projects, the production of information, and in his role as New-works Sustainability Lead.