Members of the public invited to give their views on £1.2bn skyscraper cluster close to Liverpool waterfront that includes a 70-storey tower and is being funded by Home Bargains tycoon Tom Morris. Tony McDonough reports
A public consultation will begin on the proposed £1.2bn skyscraper cluster close to Liverpool waterfront later this week.
Backed by Home Bargains billionaire Tom Morris, Kings will feature 10 high-rise residential towers with a spectacular 70-storey structure that will include a five-star hotel and luxury apartments. It will be the tallest building ever built in Liverpool by far.
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. It is being designed by SimpsonHaugh
In total Kings, located on what is currently the King Edward Industrial Estate, 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.
From Friday, May 1, members of the public will be invited to comment on the masterplan for Kings. An exhibition will be hosted in the Radisson Blu hotel on Old Hall Street in a suite overlooking the development site.
Attendees will be able to review the plans and speak with the design, planning, heritage and transport teams behind the proposals from 10am to 7pm on May 1 and 10am to 4pm on May 2.
In addition, a full consultation website mirroring the exhibition’s contents will go live at one minute past midnight on May 1 for members of the public who cannot attend the exhibition.
The site will be live for seven days, closing for submissions at midnight on May 7 and will be found by clicking here.
“This is a key moment in the shaping of our final proposals,” says Chris Bolland of Liverpool-based Brock Carmichael Architects, the scheme’s designers.
“An awful lot of hard work has gone into our designs, taking into consideration everything from heritage and permeability to layout, massing and scale.
“The council has been a key partner and offered a robust challenge which has helped us deliver a very strong set of proposals. Now we need to hear what the people of Liverpool and Wirral think,” added Chris.
Hugh Frost, Chairman of Beetham Davos, acting for the applicant KEIE, says securing the opinions of people on both sides of the river is vital.
“This is everyone’s skyline and the on-line consultation will help ensure we fully reflect the views of people from across Merseyside,” he added.
“We have thought very carefully about historic sight-lines from the Wirral shore and are in no doubt that the development, when complete, will add huge value and interest to those of its residents and businesses with views of Liverpool.”
These proposals captured national and international headlines in March when plans for a 70-storey tower incorporating a five-star hotel were revealed at MIPIM, the annual global property investment showcase held in Cannes.
All the elements of the scheme’s masterplan will be open for public scrutiny before the submission of a hybrid planning application to Liverpool City Council in the summer.
“We may have missed something or may be able to enhance certain elements of our proposals, so the consultation is about tapping into the wisdom of crowds,” said Chris Bolland.
“We don’t have a monopoly on good ideas and whilst we back these proposals 100%, who’s to say they can’t be improved with a tweak or two here and there?”
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Ten buildings are proposed for Kings, which will be divided into three zones, with the scheme’s residential element at the northern end, linking the nearby communities of Waterloo Dock and Pall Mall.
Office space will be at the development’s southern end, acting as a bridge between the business district and Princes Dock office quarters, with the scheme’s leisure zone in the middle with two hotels, plus cafes, bars and restaurants.
The hybrid application will seek detailed consent for layout, site services and some of the buildings, with outline consent for the remaining building plots.
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. WSP is advising on highways.