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The original building was an office associated with the adjacent grain warehouse, a two-storey brick structure built straight into the river bank. An earlier conversion had given it full-height windows and external shutters together with a rear stair and service core.

By 1987 this had deteriorated to the point where a major rehabilitation was necessary and Bland, Brown & Cole were offered the first floor as an office.

We felt that the potential of the building could best be realised by an additional storey. The ground and first floors were upgraded, retaining their character on the river façade and being completely restructured on the opposite side.

The new floor was constructed as a timber frame with a pitched roof. A new curving balcony celebrated the nautical flavour of the site and unified the two halves of the river elevation, with their different fenestration and angle of lean.

This latter factor was instrumental in the need for a rigid spine to counteract the inherited structural problems. In order to minimise its effect on the narrow interior, this was designed as an external hollow steel tube that occurs at the bend in the building as a dividing line between its two halves.

It was our intention to create a conversion that enhances its environment whilst respecting its vernacular origins and suggesting something of the sense of fun of being on the river.