Contractor oversees installation of tower cranes on £100m Liverpool city region town centre regeneration project with work set to begin on 120-bed Hampton by Hilton Hotel and 56 apartments. Tony McDonough reports
Work is set to begin on a 120-bed Hampton by Hilton Hotel and 56 apartments, part of the £100m regeneration of St Helens town centre.
Main contractor VINCI has overseen the installation of Wolffkran WK 235B and Wolffkran WK 166B XX tower cranes supplied by Mayo. They stand at a height of 22.5 metres and can lift up to 16 tonnes in weight.
These cranes will facilitate delivery of the concrete frames for the hotel and the apartment building. VINCI has been on site since the start of 2025 with construction proper starting in early 2026.
Led by the council and ECF – a partnership between Homes England, L&G and Muse – phase one will create a new market hall, the hotel and apartments, eight townhouses and 4,266 sq ft of retail space.
Initial works are focusing on replacing the former Hardshaw Shopping Centre. This will adjoin the new St Helens Transport Interchange and sit within landscaped areas designed to boost biodiversity.
Work on the £35m transport interchange is also well under way. In July Manchester-based business Crystal Architectural Aluminium installed glazed interior walls on the structure that is replacing the former bus station.
Speaking about the installation of the cranes, Cllr Jack Benyon, Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, Property and Planning at St Helens Council, said: “You only have to look up to see the scale of what’s happening in St Helens town centre.
“Our priority is to deliver this transformational project for the people of St Helens on time and these cranes show businesses, residents and visitors that real, physical change is well under way.
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“This is the next step in delivering a town centre that we can all be proud of and I look forward to seeing this vision start coming to life.”
Martin Horton, senior project manager at VINCI Building, added: “Erecting the tower cranes marks the transition from substructure drainage and piling works into the main concrete frame construction activities and it’s a key milestone.”