Firth Street Mill Residential Development – North Yorkshire
Skipton, North Yorkshire
Bowman Riley was commissioned to design the conversion of the vacant Firth Street Mill located in Skipton’s conservation area into a residential development for award-winning developer Candelisa.
Firth Mill was built in 1877 during the Industrial Revolution as it lay on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal. At this time many mills sprung up in the area including Firth Mill. The mill building previously housed a warehouse, storage and offices but in recent years was largely redundant.
The residential use of the Mill for housing fits in with the surrounding residential houses neighbouring the site. The development enhances the character of the conservation area by restoring the Mill for residential use, retaining the history of the area and bringing it into modern day use.
The development provides 35 one and two bedroom apartments to meet the housing demand in the area. The floor layout for each apartment is bespoke and responds to the existing structure and openings in the Mill building. The design was developed with close attention to the original structure and the existing openings and columns were retained internally as far as possible. The design of the apartments makes use of the existing large windows offering each flat a recessed balcony and maximum daylighting to each apartment.
The appearance of the mill remains largely as before maintaining and upgrading the principal elevations. The elevations retain the original openings, alternating between replacement full height windows and recessed balconies, providing interest and depth to the elevations. Images courtesy of Candelisa.
Firth Street Mill reached the finals of the LABC awards 2018.
Images courtesy of Candelisa and Heidi Marfitt.