MIDDLETON MILL HOUSE

This is a proposal for a new dwelling, been considered under the auspices of paragraph 79 The site is located to the south west of the town of Bridgnorth in Shropshire. The site is an old paddock which is bordered by a pair of meandering brooks, with a new dwelling being proposed adjacent to the confluence of these two watercourses. Middleton Mill is located in open countryside to the north of the village of Neenton. The site is nestled among the Shropshire Hills and is close to Shropshire’s highest hill, Brown Clee Hill. The site is bordered by the Rea Brook, historically known as the River Neen, which was previously used to power a water mill. The mill was converted under a previous owner and now forms the clients’ residence. The site has watercourses on three sides, a major determining factor in choosing the location for the proposed dwelling. The new two-bedroom home comprises of a series of linked volumes, which are based on traditional rural/vernacular forms. A trussed structure links the individual elements and becomes a bridge over the brook. Landscape and ecological enhancement of the immediate and wider site is proposed. Offsite manufacturing and ‘light touch’ foundation solutions are proposed for the buildings, alongside sustainability measures based on the opportunities afforded by the site such as rainwater harvesting and in particular a water source heat pump that exploits the location.

ORIENTATION
Locating the building in the given area of the site, allows for a south facing building which maximises its connection to the adjacent brook. This orientation also allows for the opening up the southern aspect with increased levels of glazing to the living spaces, serves to make the most of natural sunlight and allows for the adoption of a passive solar design strategy.

SCALE
The proposal has been developed with sensitivity to its site, and its defining characteristics. Fundamental to the concept has been the resolution of the building into two component forms, volumes and link structure. The detail and architectural expression of these forms then guides the resolution of the whole proposal.

VOLUMES
A single built form on this site, may have been problematic if traditional style had been adopted, principally because of the scale of any roof, but also because such an approach would limit the extent to which the building could respond to the site and the specifically the meander of the adjacent brook. Rather than a traditional piece of architecture; which might have developed as a large built form under a single roof – we have instead looked to develop the plan form as series of linked elements. The elements or volumes are 2 storey in height and narrow in plan and with steeply pitched roofs. These proportions reference vernacular forms such as barns which have strong precedent in both agricultural and domestic precedent alike in the locality.