Watch VOLA's short film to see how water takes shape

How do you define the concept of timelessness? Is it about creating a grand statement that will imprint itself on people’s minds forever? Or is it a way of tapping into the primal needs we all have for comfort, warmth, security and joy? For architects McLaren.Excell, timelessness is about creating an atmosphere of simplicity and familiarity. It’s also about making spaces that feel honest and considered, no matter their age or heritage.

‘There’s nothing that will date about the quality of a space, that is a timeless thing,’ says Luke McLaren, who co-founded the London-based practice in 2010 with fellow architect Robert Excell. ‘There’s nothing that’s going to date about the quality of light that you’ve managed to achieve in a building, that is also timeless,’ he adds, ‘but how you detail, how you choose materials in an appropriate way, how the building feels – those things can age. And it’s on that level that you need to be really careful that what you’re doing will stand up to time and will endure.’

McLaren.Excell is renowned for delivering beautifully conceived and crafted projects for residential and commercial clients. The studio’s approach is focused on creating a sense of place through interventions that are calm and understated rather than brash or attention-seeking. A recent project that exemplifies its ability to imbue buildings with a timeless quality is the renovation of Lower Mill, an 18th-century building in Wiltshire, England.

The heritage-listed building had permission to be converted for residential use and McLaren.Excell was tasked with repurposing it whilst preserving as many original features as possible. This light-touch approach is typical of the studio, which believes strongly in adding layers to the story of older buildings, rather than wiping the slate clean and starting again. The project is documented in a film commissioned by Vola in which the architects describe how they carefully adapted and modernised the old mill. ‘People like the stories, they like the history, they like a narrative that they can understand,’ McLaren explains in the film, ‘and I think there’s a sort of vicarious enjoyment of seeing something go through a process.’

In addition to retaining some of the original machinery, which is visible behind a glass wall in one of the bedrooms, the studio carefully preserved details such as the timber roof trusses and stone walls. Any contemporary interventions deliberately contrast with the building’s historic elements to ensure there is a clear and honest differentiation between old and new. These include the monumental blackened-steel dining table, staircase and kitchen island that define the main living space. These elements are distinctly modern but also directly reference the materiality of the mill wheel, as well as the mass of the original building’s construction.

Other materials specified throughout the Lower Mill project include stone, concrete and wood, which are used in surprising ways to introduce natural tones and subtle textures. The simple material palette was carefully curated to ensure the new additions will age beautifully as a result of everyday use. The robust yet refined quality of the interior fittings and finishes, including matt-black brassware from Vola, creates a sense of continuity with the existing building, as if it is simply entering a new phase in its story. ‘We always want there to be a richness in terms of material and the context,’ adds Excell. ‘It can age, it can gather history in itself.’

The Lower Mill project is a supremely sophisticated example of adaptive reuse, executed with due care both for the qualities of the old mill and the needs of its new occupants. McLaren.Excell has preserved history whilst simultaneously breathing new life into the historic building, using contemporary materials and details that will cope with decades of use. The restoration’s understated aesthetic will also outlast trends and fashions, ensuring these timeless spaces can be enjoyed for generations.

© Architonic