Pawson studied at Eton College and the Architectural Association School of Architecture and is married to Catherine and has two children, Caius and Benedict.

London's Cannelle Cake Shop, several Calvin Klein stores, work for Jigsaw , New Wardour Castle apartments (2001), the Nový Dv?r Monastery, Abbaye Notre-Dame de Sept-Fons, Czech Republic (2004), Hotel Puerta America, Madrid (2005), Medina House in Tunis, and the Sackler Crossing, a walkway over the lake at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2006).

A temporary exhibition of Pawson's work opened at the Design Museum in September 2010.