Speculative Facade: The Wool Mill

Leeds’ history of textile production and industrial automation inspires this facade which seeks to externalise and celebrate the city’s contributions.

Initial sketch studies explored wrapping the facade in wool as it is made, both an effigy to the mechanised knitting process, and imitating a weather-shedding cladding system.

Material experiments tested structure and fabric pleating for facade coverage. The final prototype incorporated varying pleating types and layered materials. The exploded elevation and sections demonstrate the layering process mimicking that of machinery.

The final iteration responds to, and externally expresses, internal building function, all the while celebrating textiles and Leeds’ historic contribution. With future iterations, pleat tension and protrusion definition would have been explored.