Port of Liverpool Building

The Port of Liverpool Building (formerly Mersey Docks and Harbour Board Offices, more commonly known as the Dock Office) is a

The building was designed by Sir

In 1900 a committee was formed by the MDHB to plan and develop a new building for the company.^[6] Under the leadership of Robert Gladstone, a competition was launched for local architects to submit designs for the new building. Alfred Waterhouse, a renowned local architect, was brought in to help judge the competition and prizes of £300, £200 and £100 were offered for the three best designs.^[5] In total, seven entries were submitted, with the winning design being that of the architects Sir Arnold Thornely and F.B. Hobbs, which had been developed in collaboration with Briggs and Wolstenholme. Due to boundary changes of the land on which the building was to be built, amendments were made to the design, most notably with the central dome, which was only added at the last minute.^[6]

In 1903, with the design now confirmed, the MDHB requested that a number of builders submit a tender document for the construction of the building to the revised design. Over 30 builders were contacted, with William Brown & Son of

The building acted as the head offices of the MDHB (renamed the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company in 1972) for some 87 years. In 1994 the company moved to new headquarters at the Maritime Centre near Seaforth Dock in the north of the city, in order to be closer to what was now the centre of Liverpool's docking system.^[5] However, the company remained the owners of the building until 2001 when it was acquired by Downing, a Liverpool-based property developer.^[8]

Plans submitted in 2005 for the restoration of the building were approved by Liverpool City Council. The scheme involved major internal and external work that would fully restore the Grade II* listed building. The plans included opening the building to the public, by creating a new viewing floor inside the dome and a publicly accessible sunken piazza on the riverside frontage that would provide a small parade of restaurants, cafes and shops.^[9] A sixth level of the building, which had been "dismantled" in the aftermath of the Second World War, was also to be restored, providing a series of luxury apartments.^[10] The first stage of the renovation was completed in early 2008, when the restoration of the Portland stone on the river facing side of the building was completed.^[11] The £10m restoration project was fully completed in early 2009, when the last scaffolding was removed from the outside of the building and 20,000 sq ft (2,000 m²) of refurbished office space was completed.^[12]

Architectural design

The Port of Liverpool Building is the oldest of the three large Pier Head buildings and the architectural features were designed to be reflective of Liverpool's importance to the maintenance of the British Empire.^[5][13] However, the building that exists today is actually a modified version of the originally chosen design.^[14] Initially, the plan had called for the main entrance of the building to be located on the south-west corner, but boundary changes to land on which it was to be built meant that the design was significantly revised to give it the symmetrical look it has today.^[6] Notably, the initial design did not include the large dome that sits so prominently above the building today. Inspired by an unused design for Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral, which had been developed several years earlier, the architects added the dome to the design in order to give the building a more imposing look.^[7][15][16] This decision, however, was not without controversy, as many board members believed that it was not part of the Port Authority's duty to "beautify the town".^[5][17] Nonetheless, it was added to the design, becoming the focal point of the building itself.^[16]

Designed in

The Port of Liverpool Building was constructed using a reinforced concrete frame, which not only made the building structurally strong, but also much more fire resistant than buildings in the past. As a result of being built on the site of the former George's Dock, the building required deeper foundations than normal and in total some 35,000 tons of concrete were used.^[5] Due to the building's proximity to the River Mersey, extensive work was carried out during the development of the basement level in order to make sure it was water resistant. Asphalt was used extensively to coat the floors and walls of the basement, in order to make sure it stayed dry.^[5]

Internally, the building's form centres on a full-height, octagonal hall that sits below the central dome. The hall has round, arched openings from the first floor upwards, providing large gallery spaces, whilst its floor is decorated with a

Throughout the building, there are numerous references to the sea and the maritime operations of both Liverpool and the British Empire. The main entrance gates are decorated with a globe supported by dolphins, while the cast iron gates and gate piers are decorated with mermaids, shells and anchors, and have shields with the initials "M.D. & H.B." (Mersey Docks & Harbour Board).^[18]

The outside light fittings are designed such that the lights themselves appear to be held in the hands of the Roman God Neptune.^[5] Similarly, the lifts are also decorated with maritime references, in the form of gilded emblems representing the globe, seahorses and anchors.^[13] In the central hall, the frieze between the ground and first floor is adorned with the words of psalm 107: "They that go down to the sea in ships that do business in great waters these see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep. Anno Domini MCMVII" (1907).^[13]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Port of Liverpool Building.

• Architecture of Liverpool

References