Here’s what the first new building planned for the Central Docks of Liverpool Waters could look like.
Developer Peel’s
£5.5bn Liverpool Waters scheme would see the docklands from the Pier Head to Bramley Moore Dock redeveloped with homes, offices and tower blocks.
Several developments have been built or are being planned at Princes Dock. To the north, Everton’s new stadium at Bramley Moore Dock would be at the heart of
Liverpool’s 2022 Commonwealth Games bid – and an athletes’ village would be built next door.
Fewer detailed plans have yet been revealed for the Central Docks site – though CGIs have shown that Peel wants it to be full of tall towers, with a cultural centre on the waterfront.
Plans for new apartments blocks at Central Docks in Liverpool Waters (Pic: Blok Architecture for Peel)
Plans for new apartments blocks at Central Docks in Liverpool Waters (Pic: Blok Architecture for Peel)
What's actually happening at Liverpool Waters?
But now formal plans have been submitted to Liverpool Council for a new block, reaching up to 14 storeys tall, including 237 apartments for sale.
The building, which would stretch from eight to 14 floors high, would also include office space and leisure facilities.
It would sit next to the new Northern Link Road into Liverpool Waters and next to the proposed “House of Arts, Music and Culture” on the waterfront.
The new building would be clad in red brick. In its application, Blok Architecture says: “The proposal uses red brick to ground the building into its context, utilising steel, and glazing elements to create with it a rhythm and scale that befits its context and establishes an urban mass adjacent to the neighbouring warehouses.”
The Central Docks area is largely empty and has been used for events including Liverpool Sound City music festival.
Cultural centre planned for Liverpool waterfront alongside stadium
World Heritage watchdogs at UNESCO have been particularly concerned about the effect any development at the Central Docks could have on the “Outstanding Universal Value” (OUV) of the World Heritage Site. UNESCO’s fears over Liverpool Waters saw Liverpool added to the list of World Heritage Sites in danger.
A Heritage Impact Assessment carried out by Blok Architecture included with this planning application said: “In overall terms, the proposals do not impact on OUV, and preserve the authenticity and integrity of the property.”
The north end of Liverpool Waters would have been among the last sites to be developed. But a successful Commonwealth Games bid could speed up the development of that area.
The proposed
Bramley Moore Dock stadium would in itself spark more development in and around the north docks.
But if Liverpool won the Games, the council would build an athletes’ village to the south at Nelson Dock. Those flats could then be sold on after the games, creating another residential district.
