The oldest surviving steam-powered cotton mill turned into characterful city apartments. Our brief to restore and transform the Grade II and II* Listed Murrays’ Mills was relatively simple; to create a new community, and to let the buildings’ layout, character and heritage inform how this was achieved. The mill range, begun in 1798 composed two parallel 7-8 storey mills, linked by a more recognisably Georgian administrative building and enclosing engine houses, a canal basin, a chimney and sculptural stair towers. The former Wing Mill ( which had been destroyed in a fire in the 1950s) was replaced by a new buildings , completing the courtyard once more. The structure of the existing mill buildings drove the arrangement and layouts of the apartments, resulting in a portfolio of 123 one, two and three-bedroom homes, and a townhouse in the former engine house building. The central courtyard within is a calm space, with planting and places to sit. It is brought to life by people using the front doors and shared circulation cores to the duplexes arranged around it. Typical upper apartments are dual-aspect to maximise daylight.