Roger Mears Architects

Converting a Grade II listed derelict watertower into a family home

At a high point in the Dorset countryside, this disused reinforced concrete water tower was a forbidding and poorly lit Grade II listed building. The belvedere was previously only accessible by an external staircase which had largely rotted away. It was bought by a structural engineer who specialised in concrete, and who came to us to help give this building a new lease of life. We inserted new floors and an internal staircase, working around the intermediate tank floor construction, to transform the building into a family holiday home. The external staircase was rebuilt in oak.

Awards

Winner: Concrete Society Award 2002

Mature Structures Category. For outstanding merit in the use of concrete

Judge’s comments

‘This is an impressive structure that has undergone a very sympathetic restoration. The original design of the tower gave it the appearance of a ‘folly’, making it an attractive structure even when a functional water tower… During transformation, new floors have been constructed from in-situ concrete. There is much exposed concrete throughout, and the board-marked finishes on the ceilings have been completed in an expert manner’.

 

• Category
  Conservation, Conversion, House, Listed Building, Refurbishment, Residential