A towering achievement

What can you buy for around a million these days? Depending on where you are looking, of course, it could be quite a lot; or not a great deal at all. In west London, a million pounds in the leafy haven of Holland Park will net you a cramped terrace, possibly with a roof garden.

What can you buy for around a million these days? Depending on where you are looking, of course, it could be quite a lot; or not a great deal at all. In west London, a million pounds in the leafy haven of Holland Park will net you a cramped terrace, possibly with a roof garden.

If you insist on living in the capital, you could be better off going south, just outside Blackheath, where you can still pick up exciting restoration projects unlikely to crop up in the likes of Kensington and Chelsea. One example of this is a rare converted 130ft water tower, for sale at £1.2m. Built in the 1890s by one Thomas W Aldwinckle, the tower once played host to 80 tons of water for the Brook fever hospital.

This joint development by Brisbane-based Chickenfeed Limited, who coughed up the money, and architect Loates-Taylor Shannon has to be every architect's fantasy. The unlisted honey-coloured brick tower, measuring more than 3,000 feet with space for a sizeable garden and a sassy new-build addition on the side, is one of the better schemes to come to the architect's office in Bermondsey, says Michael Loates-Taylor. "My partner Greg Shannon was introduced to the tower by a private client who didn't know what to do with it. He said, 'You must know, you're architects'."

Mercifully, Loates-Taylor does not talk in the usual architectural terms of "concept". "The planners insisted the tower could only be made into one dwelling, and not a bevy of luxury apartments, as it was effectively a leftover piece in the jigsaw of a development put up on the former hospital site," he explains. It also had to maintain exactly the same silhouette, which means an exact copy of the roof complete with dovecotes. "Because it is tall and only quite small spaces would remain once the floors went in, we parked a new villa next to it so there is room to throw yourself around."

The glass and steel section is connected at the first floor (there are eight levels of living space) by an enclosed glass bridge. A double-height entrance and a shocking pink lift and staircase should grab visitors' attention. The highlight, however, has to be a steel box observatory at the top of the tower that replaces an old water tank, boasting 360-degree views of Crystal Palace and the windmills of Kent. "On a good day," according to Loates-Taylor, "you can see five or six counties."

But the restoration of the tower had problems from day one. "We had to get rid of a colony of pigeons," explains Loates-Taylor. "Special pest-control guys in breathing gear and suits had to clear away a couple of tons of pigeon poo, which is really toxic, asbestos-like stuff. There are still a few pigeons that keep coming back looking a bit puzzled. When you are mucking about with old buildings, they always surprise you."

Sandblasting has cleaned up this old edifice on Shooters Hill, which now boasts white and chrome Philippe Starck bathrooms, walnut and stone floors and bespoke lighting from Kevin Shaw Lighting in Glasgow. Another feature that breaks up the utilitarian brickwork is aluminium, powder-coated windows so beloved by architects these days. Loates-Taylor jokes that architects only see the world in grey and silver: "We introduce little flashes of colour every so often to show we can."

The on-site work took 18 months and could have been completed earlier if the architect had hired one main contractor. Instead, they engaged individual chippies, plasterers and painters they could rely on. Loates-Taylor insists that everything was done more carefully, with Greg's dad even working as a dedicated chippie. "Finding a new use for old buildings is important," he adds, "but it takes imagination to come up with different ways to finish such places."

Richard O'Toole from John Payne Residential, the selling agent, concurs. "You need to be able to run loose with your imagination, and good contemporary architects like Loates-Taylor Shannon make this happen. I have applicants from Canary Wharf, only 15 minutes away, who could find this one of those interesting purchases because it is a bit different and has such a 'wow' factor. It is a good place to impress clients and where you would want to spend time."

If the thought of a cold-hearted, currency-wielding banker getting his hands on such an aesthetic gem depresses you, O'Toole believes the tower will have wide appeal. "It would operate well as a live/work unit. The viewing platform could make a great office, with superb views that would get the creative juices flowing. The bedrooms could be terrific guest suites and even families could live here happily. Children going to bed by elevator could be interesting."

Loates-Taylor and his colleagues lament having to sell the tower. "We want to live here and wish we were not architects so we could afford it. If we worked in the City or were pop stars, it could be ours. Architects make lousy developers, because we spend too much time on getting things right rather than making money." The good news is there is a pretty three-bed cottage on the same site that has been renovated to the same standard. At £450,000, it sounds good value for those who can't quite hit the million pound mark. "In some respects I like it even better," he says.

John Payne Residential: 020-8318 1311

Loates-Taylor Shannon: 020-7357 7000