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Roden Water Tower

Shropshire

Our own curiosity project. Bringing to life a disused water tower in a tiny hamlet with a personal connection.

Aerial view of water tower in surrounding context of the village and neighbouring houses.

Key Challenges

Historic hand-drawn village map marking the water tower within its surrounding rural context, proposed for conversion to a residence.
3D SketchUp section showing the proposed residential conversion of the water tower with material and texture finishes, with the staircase core positioned to the side to maximize the internal space, external metal stairs and green roof.

The Solution

Celebrating the areas industrial and agricultural heritage by developing an ‘exceptional design’ application to put the buildings past at the heart of its future.

internal view of doorway exposed brickwork, worn green paint on door with glazed panels, accumulated dust throughout, unfinished stone floor leading out onto a grass patch.
Close-up of exposed pipework emerging through rusted ceiling  panels with exposed structure against unfinished brickwork, showing aged and rusted surfaces and wheel valves.

The Design

The water tower is a local landmark and the tallest structure in the village. With this in mind we want to preserve and celebrate as much of the existing tower as possible. This means restoring original brickwork and the cast iron tank, replacing the rotten windows with their modern equivalent and keeping the floor levels as they currently are. A small extension at the back will be removed to reveal more of the original structure, whilst the dilapidated lean-to will be partially rebuilt to house two bedrooms.  

Inside, we’ve repositioned the central staircase to one side of the property, improving circulation and increasing the useable floorspace. The tank will be turned into a rooftop garden accessed by a hidden ladder. The benefit of a roof garden is that it provides additional insulation and absorbs surface water.

In order to make the project as sustainable as possible we won’t be installing gas, instead an air-source heat pump and electricity connection will be used to provide power, heating and hot water with the option to install solar panels to reduce the carbon footprint even more.

Work on the project is ongoing, with the first phase of work to make the building fully watertight beginning Spring 2026. 

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