£2.1m transformation of former York maltings house into new homes completes

A £2.1m housing scheme in York, which has seen the transformation of a former 19th century Grade-II listed malting house, is now complete.

After nine months construction and refurbishment work by property developer, Northminster Ltd, six new townhouses at the former Clementhorpe Maltings site are going on sale.

As well as being among only a handful of former UK malting houses to have survived, the 10,000 sq ft property had many of the original maltings artefacts, which have been conserved and are a feature of the new homes.

Entrance to the townhouses, which are between 1,100 sq ft and 1,500 sq ft, is through a three-storey open atrium housing the industrial artefacts.

The homes have three storeys with a lower-ground floor utility and store area on the former barley-growing floor. Two of the homes are two-bedroom and four have three bedrooms.

Part of Northminster Ltd’s commitment in obtaining planning permission from York City Council, which owned the property, was to preserve the historic malting artefacts. These include a double-bucket elevator, a large hopper for grain storage, a seed-dressing machine and a cast iron steep and furnace.

Among the other parts of the original building to have been incorporated as character features into the new homes are roof and floor timber beams, upright steel posts, Victorian cast iron columns, the original quarry tile floor in the atrium and malt bin doors.

Designed by Leeds-based COG Architecture, the scheme was also worked on by civil and construction engineers Topping Engineers; built by York’s Croft Farm Construction, while York property and construction consultants, LHL Group Ltd, managed construction for Northminster Ltd.

The Association for Industrial Archaeology advised on restoring the artefacts.

The houses are to go on sale through York estate agents, Hudson Moody, Micklegate.

George Burgess, Northminster Ltd managing director, commented: “The scheme appealed us because of the challenge of dealing with such an unusual, historic building. As the property is Grade II listed, we had to adapt our design to work within the constraints of the original structure but this has created wonderful, characterful homes.

“Our enthusiasm for the restoration was shared by our architects and engineers, whose vision and hard work made it deliverable and has enabled us to complete the homes to such a high standard internally and externally.

“It is hugely satisfying to have restored such an historic building which had been empty for so long and created new homes for people who like something different in a sought-after area.”