Tannery Lofts

A three-storey brick tannery converted into thirty-two apartments, with a recessed glazed storey added above the original eaves.

Location

Leeds, England

Year

2022

Area

1,940 m²

Status

Completed

Client

A private developer

Team

Helen Marsh, Maria Santos, Sam Walker

Context

The tannery stopped working in the 1990s and stood empty for twenty years, with a sawtooth-roofed shed beside it and a tall brick chimney. The walls were sound but the windows were small, high and mostly bricked up, and the deep floor plates meant daylight reached only the first few metres of each floor. The developer wanted to keep the building's character and the chimney, add apartments with real daylight and meet current energy rules. The listing authority agreed to alterations if the brickwork, the sawtooth profile and the original window rhythm stayed legible from the street.

Concept

We kept the old walls and opened them. On the south facade the small high windows were replaced by wider ones, one in each bay, so the rhythm of the old brick wall is kept and the new openings sit inside it. A storey of glass, set back from the eaves, adds apartments without hiding the profile of the roof. The sawtooth shed became the entrance hall, its glazed north-facing slopes lighting the stair. The chimney stays as a landmark and now carries the flues for the heating plant.

Construction

The brick walls are retained and insulated on the inside with a breathable lime-based board, which keeps the exterior unchanged and lets the masonry dry. New window openings are cut with steel lintels, and the original timber floors were replaced by concrete slabs on the lower levels to meet fire and acoustic requirements. The added storey is a lightweight steel frame with aluminium-framed glazing and a planted roof, chosen to keep extra load on the old walls small. A communal heat pump, with panels on the shed roof, heats all apartments.

Before / After

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N.T.S.