This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/aug/09/millennium-mills-docklands-london-developers-catch-up-last-relic

The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Millennium Mills: developers catch up with Docklands' last relic Millennium Mills: developers catch up with Docklands' last relic
(about 3 hours later)
The pigeons, graffiti artists, urban explorers and moody film-makers are to be expelled from the last derelict post-industrial giant in London’s Docklands, the hulking grandeur of Millennium Mills in Silvertown, decaying for half a lifetime. The pigeons, graffiti artists, urban explorers and moody film-makers are to be expelled from the last derelict post-industrial landmark of London’s Docklands, the hulking Millennium Mills in Silvertown, which has sat decaying for half a lifetime.
The mills, familiar to every passenger flying in or out of London City airport, where the runway is only separated from the buildings by a narrow strip of water – the planned apartments will be a paradise for plane spotters – once employed hundreds of East Enders. Its giant art deco rooftop sign, 10 storeys above the water of the Royal Docks, dominates the local landscape, and the site has the proud boast of being the place that Winalot dog biscuits were first made. The former flour mill complex, familiar to every passenger flying in or out of London City airport, where the runway is only separated from it by a narrow strip of water once employed hundreds of East Enders. Its giant art deco rooftop sign, 10 storeys above the water of the Royal Docks, dominates the local landscape, and the site has the proud boast of being the place that Winalot dog biscuits were first made.
The mills closed down in 1992 after years of decline, and though officially abandoned, the giant buildings have rarely been empty since: film-makers, music video creators and a variety of unofficial visitors have all been in, many leaving their mark on the building. The mill closed down in 1992 after years of decline and, though officially abandoned, the giant buildings have rarely been empty since: film-makers, music video creators and a variety of unofficial visitors have all been in, many leaving their mark on the building.
It has starred as a spectacularly urban grimy setting in the Stanley Kubrick film, Full Metal Jacket, Terry Gilliam’s Brazil, and Derek Jarman’s The Last of England, as well as the television series Ashes to Ashes, and music videos including Snow Patrol’s Take Back the City. It has starred as a spectacularly grimy urban setting in the Stanley Kubrick film Full Metal Jacket, Terry Gilliam’s Brazil, and Derek Jarman’s The Last of England, as well as the television series Ashes to Ashes, and music videos including Snow Patrol’s Take Back the City.
Unofficial urban explorers have also crawled, crept and swung perilously over every inch of it, picking their way through the tangles of cable and old machinery left behind on its last working day.Unofficial urban explorers have also crawled, crept and swung perilously over every inch of it, picking their way through the tangles of cable and old machinery left behind on its last working day.
James Santer, an architect from site consultants Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, admitted that he had first been inside as student – though he declines to reveal how. “I doubt there’s an architecture student in the south of England who hasn’t cast covetous eyes on this great hulking mass of a building and this site. It’s a haunting place.”James Santer, an architect from site consultants Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, admitted that he had first been inside as student – though he declines to reveal how. “I doubt there’s an architecture student in the south of England who hasn’t cast covetous eyes on this great hulking mass of a building and this site. It’s a haunting place.”
When the sun hits his office desk, the oars of a tiny solar-powered plastic boat start turning. He arrived at the mills one morning to find one of the rooftop areas more than a metre deep in water, and scores of the little boats ploughing across the rusty water. From where and how they came to be there remains one of the site’s many mysteries. When the sun hits his office desk, the oars of a tiny solar-powered plastic boat start turning. He arrived at the mills one morning to find one of the rooftop areas more than a metre deep in water, and scores of these little boats ploughing across the rusty water. From where and how they came to be there remains one of the site’s many mysteries.
Related: Millennium Mills: the ‘brand experience’ replacing one of London’s last great ruins | Owen HatherleyRelated: Millennium Mills: the ‘brand experience’ replacing one of London’s last great ruins | Owen Hatherley
Although there have been mills in the area for centuries, the present complex was originally built in 1905, named after William Vernon & Sons’ award winning Millennium flour. It was flattened in 1917 in the Silvertown explosion, when a munitions factory just 100 yards away blew up, killing 73 people – the death toll would have been much higher, only the explosion happened after clocking off time – destroying 900 homes and scores of factories and warehouses, and breaking every window in the East End. The new mill building, partly built with government compensation, was regarded as palatial, being unusually light and airy with large windows on every side, and very high ceilings. Although there have been mills in the area for centuries, the complex was originally built in 1905, named after William Vernon & Sons’ award-winning Millennium flour. It was flattened in 1917 in the Silvertown explosion, when a munitions factory just 100 yards away blew up, killing 73 people – the death toll would have been much higher, only the explosion happened after clocking-off time – destroying 900 homes and scores of factories and warehouses, and breaking every window in the East End. The present mill building, partly built with government compensation, was regarded as palatial, being unusually light and airy with large windows on every side, and very high ceilings.
The 62-acre, 7 million sq ft site is now to be redeveloped as housing and offices by the Silvertown Partnership, after a major project to scour the buildings clear of asbestos-based paint, and to record, and recycle where possible, every scrap of abandoned equipment including grain silos, flour chutes, and conveyor belts. The 62-acre, 7m sq ft site is now to be redeveloped as housing and offices by the Silvertown Partnership, after a major project to scour the buildings clean of asbestos-based paint, and to record, and recycle where possible, every scrap of abandoned equipment including grain silos, flour chutes and conveyor belts.
“That could make a striking feature in somebody’s office reception area,” said Daniel May, design executive at the Silvertown Partnership, looking thoughtfully at a fridge freezer-sized chunk of rusting flour chute. “That could make a striking feature in somebody’s office reception area,” said Daniel May, design executive at the Silvertown Partnership, looking thoughtfully at a fridge-freezer-sized chunk of rusting flour chute.
Sarter loves the building so much he wondered if they could avoid the customary double glazing and air conditioning, and just convince people to get back to opening windows instead – though as yet another plane passing directly overhead drowned out his words, he admitted this may be impractical. The narrow, ladder-steep concrete staircases that connect the floors will also have to go. Sarter loved the building so much he wondered if they could avoid the customary double glazing and air conditioning, and just convince people to get back to opening windows instead – though, as yet another plane passing directly overhead drowned out his words, he admitted this may be impractical. The narrow, ladder-steep concrete staircases that connect the floors will also have to go.
“We want to do everything with the lightest touch, to keep the industrial feeling and the grandeur of the building,” May said. “It would be nice if in 10 years’ time people looked at it and wondered what we had actually done to the building.”“We want to do everything with the lightest touch, to keep the industrial feeling and the grandeur of the building,” May said. “It would be nice if in 10 years’ time people looked at it and wondered what we had actually done to the building.”