The Old Mill
Structural Engineer: Webb Yates Engineers
M&E Consultant: ITS Consultancy
Planning Consultant: DGW Planning
Main Contractor: Linx Construction
Lighting Designer: Stileman Lighting Design
Interior Designer: Kitchen Architecture
Stone Masonry: Carvero Stonemasonry
Steelwork: Astley Fab
Balustrade and Handrail: Sim Fabrications
Approved Inspector: Clarke Banks
Landscape Architects: Claire Greener Landscapes
Stage: Complete
WGP has transformed a Grade II listed mill, recorded in the Domesday Book, into an innovative and energy-efficient family home.
The conversion of the mill, which ceased operations in the 1930s and has since seen a variety of uses, was led by a sensitive approach that seamlessly integrated modern interventions and technology with careful retention of the historic fabric to both reveal and celebrate the building’s original character.
Key to the brief was peeling back recent layers and reinstating significant historic features to emphasise the industrial and domestic hierarchy of the buildings, such as reintroducing the gabled roofscape and historical fenestration patterns.
Contemporary installations have been incorporated in contrasting materials to further emphasise the building’s original form. The historic internal walkway is now reimagined in perforated metal, and the modern intervention of a glazed link reconnects the second mill building to the home’s main entrance.
Notably, a central, two tiered, post tensioned helical stone stair with waxed steel balustrade and phosphorus bronze handrail, now stands where milling gear once connected the floors, acting as a sculptural and symbolic feature of the home’s industrial past. Elsewhere, the lucum, a projecting timber structure at the top of the building, where grains were once hoisted up and stored for milling, now serves as a reading space with panoramic views over the wider landscape.
The project also places a strong emphasis on sustainability, with energy-efficient systems, re-use and building materials incorporated throughout.