PLANS for a dramatic development on Liverpool's Mann Island, close to the city's historic Three Graces, are revealed for the first time today.

The futuristic £112m scheme by locally-based Neptune Developments and nationallyrenowned Countryside Properties has won provisional approval from one of the country's leading architectural watchdog bodies.

It will bring office space, hundreds of luxury apartments, shops and a series of new public squares to the key waterfront site, with waterfront cafes and restaurants.

CABE, the Commission for the Environment and the Built Environment, has given its blessing to the Pier Head scheme, designed to complement the proposed waterfront Museum of Liverpool development.

Reaction to the Mann Island scheme will become clearer later this week when the plans are put on public display at an exhibition.

The developers insist the proposals have been specially designed to preserve the famous views of the city's Three Graces, the Port of Liverpool Building, Cunard Building and the Royal Liver Building with simple, elegant buildings that blend into the skyline.

International architects Broadway Malyan has designed three buildings, encompassing three new public spaces including a covered area.

Their designs have already received the support of English Heritage, Liverpool Vision, the city council-backed urban design panel, and the council's Regeneration Select Committee. more

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