PROJECT REPORT: HERITAGE & HISTORIC 41


Photos © Daniel Hopkinson


He says that with the third floor having a central line of beautiful forked iron columns (the fork originally held the mill drive shaft), the architects were trying hard to retain it as open plan. Where more structural strengthening was needed, a more compartmentalised approach was used. The contractor did a lot of the work themselves rather than subbing it out, with individual staff a regular sight on the project over several years. Many of the materials and trades were sourced locally; the roof slates came from Wales, and many of the replacement bricks from Gloucestershire- based Northcot Brick. A lot of the joinery and metalwork repair was done by local firm Heritage Project Works, and the goal was “about leaving a building which could be maintained by the local industry, rather than importing things that would need to be rethought in 10 years,” says Greensmith. The first floor of workspace was fully fitted out by the architects, to set the standard for subsequent floors above, showing “how to keep views open, and how to create communal and breakout space.”


Conclusion


The workplace levels of the project are now potentially around 75% let (the fully let first


ADF FEBRUARY 2024


floor is being followed by the second which is currently being fitted out, and the fourth floor negotiations were close to conclusion). Tim Greensmith says that “you hope it now has the critical mass that people will be fighting over the last areas.”


There are other buildings available on the site which can be converted if required, part of the adaptability of this historical antecedent of 20th century construction. This re-use of the structure shows the flexible qualities which are inherent to the building, and which have been harnessed by the architects to provide a commercial boost for Shrewsbury in future decades. Doubtless in planning a mill 225 years ago which would make work less of a threat to life, Charles Bage could not have envisaged that his functional frame of slender iron columns, built for workers’ safety, would be preserved for a much less intense long-term use, as a home for small businesses. Beyond the retention and protection of an important architectural monument with an uncompromising attention to quality however, perhaps the real importance of this project is as a vivid demonstration of why and how an entire high-profile building of this scale and nature can be saved, and given a sustainable new life. g


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