Developer backed by Home Bargains billionaire Tom Morris to build spectacular 70-storey skyscraper close to Liverpool waterfront as part of £1bn cluster of 10 residential towers. Tony McDonough reports
A £1bn cluster of 10 skyscrapers planned for close to Liverpool waterfront will include a spectacular 70-storey tower as its centrepiece,
At the MIPIM international property expo in Cannes on Tuesday, Davos Property Developments in conjunction with Beetham Davos, unveiled more detailed plans for its Kings scheme on what is currently the King Edward industrial estate.
Backed by Home Bargains billionaire Tom Morris, the scheme will transform a piece of land adjacent to the Princes Dock Liverpool Waters development which already includes five residential towers.
Until now it was believed the tallest tower in Kings would be around 60 storeys which in itself would be by far the tallest building ever built in Liverpool. 70 storeys has exceeded all expectations.
This tower, designed by SimpsonHaugh, will comprise a five-star hotel and luxury residences managed by the hotel operator. This announcement comes just weeks after the scheme’s first tower of 28 storeys, named No 1 Kings, secured planning consent.
See the Kings website home page for a video of the project
Hugh Frost, chairman of Beetham Davos who was the developer behind the nearby Beetham and West Towers, said: “This will be the scheme’s signature building and is the ultimate expression of our confidence in Liverpool and the council’s backing for our ambition.”
New images offer the first glimpse of the emerging masterplan for the eight-acre site, to the north of the city’s famous Pier Head. Talks are “well under way” with a global hotel brand to take the whole of the building, added Hugh.
“They share our view of Liverpool as outward-looking and international and therefore a good fit for their brand.”
The hotel would occupy the first 23 floors of the building, offering 212 rooms, with the balance taken up by 563 luxury residences. Guest and resident amenities would include bars, restaurants, gymnasiums, banqueting and meeting facilities and a rooftop terrace.
In all, the building would provide 924,000 sq ft of space, making it the second largest building by floor space in Liverpool, after its famous Tobacco Warehouse.
In total Kings will comprise 2,750 apartments, 200,000 sq ft of office space, a new 25,000 sq ft events arena and 250,000 sq ft of commercial leisure, retail, and food and beverage space.
Ian Simpson of SimpsonHaugh said of the 70-storey tower: “This is a landmark intervention for Britain’s most dramatic waterfront skyline. It is rooted in the city’s architectural vernacular and its maritime history but offers a very contemporary expression of both.”
He added the form draws on the naval engineering and industrial motifs that remain integral to Liverpool’s dominant maritime trade, with the façade expression referencing ‘the birthplace of skyscrapers’.
This refers to Peter Ellis’s ground-breaking Oriel Chambers in the city, the world’s first metal-framed, glazed curtain-walled building, constructed in 1864.
Kings’ emerging masterplan will go out to public consultation later this spring, before an expected planning submission in late summer.
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The hybrid application will seek detailed consent for layout and site services and outline consent for each building plot and will include residential towers, two hotels, Grade A offices, a new arts venue, shared workspace for start-ups and tech businesses and a range of food and beverage outlets.
“Kings is a new neighbourhood for the UK’s most recognisable waterfront, and it will reflect the confidence and outward-looking nature of our city. It will be for everyone to enjoy, and this hotel will allow visitors to be at its very heart,” said Hugh Frost.
Brock Carmichael are the masterplan architects for Kings, with Pegasus Group providing planning, economics, heritage and EIA Services and Planit leading on public realm design.