Joinery company awarded contract at Shrewsbury's historic Flaxmill

Four of the original four foot square windows at the building are to be carefully restored by hand, with a further 35 other replicas hand crafted to complete this element of the major refurbishment project.

All the windows will be made from wood with sills crafted from English oak and frame and casements in Douglas Fir with modern thermal requirements included to ensure the new windows are 'future-fit'.

Steve Granda, joinery manager at the Morris Joinery business based at Bicton Business Park, was delighted to be invited to tender for the painstaking work required on the project – and even more delighted to be awarded the contract.

"This really is a privilege for our team to be working on such an historic and important landmark building. We will be using all our expertise and experience to ensure a quality final product which meets with the stringent standards required for this type of specialist restoration work," he said.

James Sibson and Tim Greensmith, of Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, architects for the full restoration of the Flaxmill, said: "The Flaxmill Maltings is among the most important conservation and renovation projects in the UK. The works require craftsmen with the knowledge and skill necessary to recognise the standard of workmanship required of such a project. We recognise that not every workshop can handle this kind of project and are pleased to have Morris Joinery as part of the team."

The main contractors for the project are Croft Building & Conservation Ltd. Croft, together with the architects put Steve and the joinery team through their paces to demonstrate their approach and methodology for the restoration.

Steve said: "We were asked to take one of the windows from site to workshop to restore it providing a clear step by step documented process on how and what was done to produce the quality of the finished item.

"The high standards for conservation repair were set out by the architect. The repair principles guided our work as we gradually revealed the story of the window by carefully removing the layers of paint and investigating the method of assembly and later alterations to the original window of 1897."

A partnership led by site owners Historic England is now restoring the 1797 Grade I listed main mill and Grade II listed 1898 kiln thanks to £20.7 million from the National Lottery.

The refurbishment will include the creation of a new interpretation and learning space and café on the ground floor of the main mill; space for commercial use on the upper floors; and improved accessibility across the site.