Portfolio · Chichester, West Sussex

The Mill, Chichester

The Mill: proposed elevations and section, first-floor timber-frame addition

Watercolour illustration from the garden showing the existing red-brick mill with the new first-floor weatherboard extension and external timber stair

Watercolour illustration of the gable elevation, brick-and-flint chequerboard masonry, blue render side wall and terracotta-tile roof

Watercolour illustration of the proposed first-floor weatherboard extension and external stair, beside the millrace and pond

Project overview.

The Mill is a historic unlisted building within the South Downs National Park; a structure that has grown and been adapted over time in the way that vernacular buildings always have, each addition telling something about the period and the people who shaped it.

The brief is for a first floor rear extension that continues that story honestly. Rather than imposing a language from outside, the design takes its cue from the logic of the existing building: a lightweight timber frame structure rising from the solid masonry base below, clad in lightweight materials that sit in clear distinction from the masonry beneath.

That distinction is the point. Vernacular architecture is not about imitation; it is about each generation building in a way that makes sense for its time, using available materials and methods while respecting what came before. The new addition is designed to continue that thought process, not interrupt it.

Concept design, Stages 1–2. Planning application not yet submitted.