30 PROJECT REPORT: HERITAGE & CONSERVATION
FOCAL POINTS
The retained chimney was one of the major focal points of HSSP’s design
great acclaim, and a further two phases are in the works. The project has so far delivered 76 luxury one and two bed apartments, alongside a residents gym, communal offices and parking, all in what has been described as a “groundbreaking regeneration project.”
A lucky position
Having worked with developer Solus Homes for a number of years, HSSP was approached directly when pharmaceutical giant 3M, whose UK office base previously occupied the site, put it on the market. “Solus found themselves in a lucky position here,” says Richard Cooper, director at HSSP Architects and lead architect on the project. He tells ADF it was “a fantastic opportunity” for the project team, with a history “far too interesting to turn down.”
The mill originally created hosiery items such as stockings, and was located at the side of the canal for ease of movement of their goods across the UK. In the 1950s, it was converted into offices, in which 3M would take residence. While the Victorian architecture was still very recognisable in the building’s form when the architects first visited the site, it had of course been reconfigured internally to offer the necessary office functions, and extended – though the extensions
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were ultimately demolished as part of HSSP’s scheme.
Cooper says the older features “were by far the most immediately attractive elements from the outset,” the architects appreciating the cast iron columns, exposed timber and the industrial aesthetic, which all “lent themselves very easily” to the functions being served by the practice’s design.
“The look was already there,” he says, “it had just been hidden by its incarnation as an office.”
Ticking all the boxes
The architects began by carrying out a standard site analysis, looking at the focal, and entry, points of the project – which were largely based around the chimney – and how people would use and perceive the building.
Though the retention of The Mill’s chimney was key, Cooper says its restoration “was a fairly contentious point in the early days, as the developers thought it would be more of a risk than a feature.” However, the team “slowly convinced everybody, and in the end it worked very successfully,” says the architect. Once a more complete plan was produced, the planners were reportedly “won over very quickly.”
ADF JANUARY 2021
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