The History

The building originally dates back to 1858 when it was constructed as four cottages. In the 1890s, Hull & Sons, a local family-run ironworks, with Victorian roots, purchased the building and converted it into their workplace, supplying the local area with bespoke metal-works up until the late 1900s. The building was then converted to an office, with the first tenant being Lego's design team. When plans were made to restore the building for residential use in 2020, great care was taken to make sure the building’s rich past was respected. All the architectural works and interiors have been crafted by award-winning local designers, while prioritising multi-purpose use and guest comfort.

The cottages were gutted by Hull & Sons and ties were incorporated to strengthen the outer walls where the interior walls had been removed. The special ‘flying’ chimney stack suggests that the upper floor was required to be a large clear space so the chimney was canted out to avoid the need for a chimney within the structure. This rare chimney design has been acknowledged within local history guides and is a reminder of the building's industrial past.

The building was purchased from Hull & Sons in 1995 and converted to an office space which was home to Lego’s design team and then a local travel magazine until Covid arrived. With the demand for office space having disappeared, the decision was taken to convert the building to Leworth Apartments in 2020 and planning was granted in 2021. With the building being classified as a locally listed asset, considerate attention was paid to respect the building's history.