St Helens Mill is the careful repair and reworking of the site of a 17th-century tidal mill on the Isle of Wight. The project seeks to show the significant history of the place, understood both as the location of one of the island’s tidal-powered grain mills and as a protected ecological site with a long natural history as a resting point for migrating birds. The house, although reconstructed in the 20th century, was built using stone reclaimed from the former mill. This material allows the renewed external envelope to recall the historic building, re-establishing a gridded series of elevations that echo the rational organisation of the original working building.

The project removes layers of hard landscaping that had encroached into the adjacent tidal habitats. Their removal allows the restoration of intertidal mudflat and salt marsh, creating new habitat and also acting as a carbon sink. The surrounding landscape is softened with low, drought-resistant shingle planting, drawing on the character of the nearby beach fringes. Cork oaks and native trees re-anchor the site within its natural context.


An existing outbuilding is replaced with a new annexe, whose modular elevation facing the mill pond reinforces the working quality of the site’s history. Its zinc roof matches the adjacent workshop building, drawing this working context into the site. At the tidal level, the annexe is punctuated with artificial rock pools that retain water at low tide. These elements form habitats in their own right, working in conjunction with the adjacent protected site and extending the ecological life of the mill into the architecture itself.