Velvet Mill is one of two imposing 19th-century Grade II* listedstructures at the Lister Mills complex in Manningham, Bradford,built by Samuel Cunliffe Lister between 1870 and 1873. Thetextile mill thrived until its 1970s decline and, finally, closure in1990, lying vacant and vandalised until 1999 when UrbanSplash, in partnership with Bradford City Council, YorkshireForward and English Heritage, rescued the site.

The roof offers huge potential to express the building’s newresidential use and regenerate Manningham and Bradford. Themill is a robust stone building complemented by the lightness anddelicacy of the proposed penthouses, which will have a matt-silver metal roof, clear glazing and glass doors to timber-deckedbalconies. Up close, the roof will recede, but from further away itsplait-like appearance will be more legible, resembling woven yarn.The two modular wings are symmetrical about the existing centralstair tower, which will continue to dominate the skyline of the mill.

The penthouses evoke a curvilinear metal fabric wrappedinto a plait. At the fold lines the double-curved modules areseparated by glazed slots over the staircases. This rigorousgeometry enables diagonal views towards the city and the hills.The two storeys can be configured as scissor duplexes with thebedrooms on the east-facing side and living rooms on the west,or vertical stacked duplexes or single-level apartments withdual-aspect upper floors. The living areas on the upper levelsare characterised by the curved soffit that describes the form ofthe modules.

The form of the roof has been modelled using cutting-edgeparametric 3-D computer software, so is a truly contemporarydesign, bringing new life to a handsome old structure. Each parthas its own integrity and Lister, a consummate innovator, wouldno doubt have supported the planning approval for the project,received in July this year. 4

David Morley and Danielle Tinero

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Courtyard view. The robustness and solidity of the stone-millbuilding is complemented by the lightness and delicacy of the glassand metal penthouses. From ground level, the penthouses appearto float as they recede from view and reflect the colour of the sky.

Aerial view of Velvet Mill showing the proposed penthouses. The moduleshave a double-curved form clad in a ribbed or standing-seam metal sheetmaterial that further evokes the texture of woven yarn. The geometry wasdeveloped with engineer Tim Lucas of Price & Myers 3d Engineering.

The penthouses have a plaited form similar to woven yarn.

Lister Mills, BradfordDavid Morley Architects

Text © 2006 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Images: (t) © Felicia Lo, SweetGeorgiaYarns; (c) © David Morley Associates; (b) © Uniform Communications Ltd 2006