Princes Dock Area

[Kev]

LUXURY flats developer City Lofts is to build a second apartments block on the Liverpool waterfront.

The London-based property company is currently building a 162-apartments block, worth £38m, on Princes Dock.

The council has now given planning permission for a second 121 one and two-bedroom apartment development on the adjacent Princes Half Tide plot.

Building work will start on the nine-storey project later this year and City Lofts development director Tony Brooks said: "The transformation of brownfield sites alongside Liverpool's waterfront will benefit the whole city.

"We are proud to play our part in the transformation of this prime location into a desirable residential address."

The land belongs to Princes Dock Development Company, part of Mersey Docks and Harbour Company which was bought last year by the Peel Group, owner of John Lennon airport.

[Kev]

DEVELOPER City Lofts yesterday won planning permission for a £24m nine-storey residential development at Liverpool's Princes Dock.

The news comes as it is revealed that full construction work on another residential scheme at the dock - a 26-storey tower - will begin next month.

Work on the foundations of Alexandra Tower has already been carried out but now the main contractor, Laing O'Rourke, will begin building the Millennium Estates scheme on March 6.

The glass tower will rise 288ft, offering views of the River Mersey and the city's Pier Head. The building will house 201 one, two and three-bedroom apartments.

Construction on the latest City Lofts development, a nine-storey structure comprising 121 apartments, will start later this year. It is the firm's second project at the site. The latest scheme, for which a high level of interest is also anticipated, will see City Lofts build on a site overlooking the waters of Princes Half Tide Dock. Like the first scheme, the apartments will be designed by internationally recognised architectural and design practice, Conran & Partners.

The firm's development director, Tony Brooks, said: "The transformation of brownfield sites alongside Liverpool's waterfront will benefit the whole city. We are proud to play our part in the transformation of this prime location into a desirable residential address."

[Kev]

Floors: 27 above ground 2 below
Height: 88m 288ft

Here's a render:



And now.....

[Paul D]

A stunning tower Kev,this will do wonders for our skyline.

[Kev]

A stunning tower Kev,this will do wonders for our skyline.

'Tiss a very nice tower indeed

[Kev]

Some pics from around the area:

[Max]

MORE TOWA= MORE POWA!

[Kev]

A STRETCH of Liverpool's historic dock wall is to be breached for the first time since it was built 200 years ago by French prisoners during the Napoleonic War.

The city's planning committee has agreed to allow the Princes Dock Development Company permission to remove a 20ft stretch of the brick wall fronting Bath Street.

The aim is to create a new pedestrian access point to Princes Dock and the waterfront. Detailed talks had to take place with the government conservation agency, English Heritage, because the wall is part of the Unesco World Heritage Site.

Committee chairman Cllr Lady Doreen Jones did not take part in the decision making, but she launched a fierce attack on the proposal, saying the wall should remain intact.

She told the committee: "When we gave permission, against my better judgment, for the 40-storey Beetham West tower, I warned that a plan would emerge to knock a hole in the dock wall to give easier access to the new multi-storey car park at Princes Dock.

"The tower will only have 19 parking spaces, which is insufficient. I also predicted that a plan would come forward to completely block off Bath Street to road traffic, and I am sure that will come next.

"I warned about the hole in the wall and I was correct. I am usually right on these things. Several years ago I had a meeting with the council planning manager and I was told the wall could not be touched because it is part of our heritage. For some reason, English Heritage are now allowing this to happen, and I am surprised at them. If we keeping chopping down parts of the wall, we might as well tear it down completely and forget all about our heritage.

"I know the dock wall is like a prison wall and some may think it is not very attractive, but it is part of our maritime history. The principles should be consistent - we should protect our heritage or not bother at all."

The committee's deputy chairman, Cllr Dave Irving, said: "I take on board the comments of Lady Doreen when she says the wall is part of our heritage. But the whole area is changing in character and I feel we should try to open up the area for the people of Liverpool. This scheme will open up the waterfront to the public."

Planning officer Barbara Kirk-bride said the council planning department believed the opening of the dock wall was an acceptable intervention. "The scheme has been planned sympathetically and English Heritage has raised no objection."

Liverpool architects KKA have devised a scheme that will see modern gateposts at either end of the opening to create a new link to the docks for people in Old Hall Street and Brook Street.

Ian Pollitt, chief executive of Princes Dock Development Company, now part of Peel Holdings, said: "We have designed the scheme in a way that fully respects the important heritage of the wall."

larryneild@dailypost.co.uk

[Waterways]

A STRETCH of Liverpool's historic dock wall is to be breached for the first time since it was built 200 years ago by French prisoners during the Napoleonic War.

"I know the dock wall is like a prison wall and some may think it is not very attractive, but it is part of our maritime history. The principles should be consistent - we should protect our heritage or not bother at all."

Then why didn't she kick up over the Kings Dock Project, which is built on in-filled Kings Dock, parts of Queens Dock and Dukes Dock. They are far more important to our history and heritage, than a 20 foot hole in the wall.

Is she going to get Herculaneum, Harington, Toxteth, West Waterloo and Clarence Docks excavated? I hear nothing from her about these historic in-filled docks. Excavating is pretty easy to do with these docks to re-instate them.

[wallasey]

Great new development! It seems that the Princes Dock is the place to live at the moment! It is certainly popular!

[Kev]

Malmaison Liverpool

Being honest can you tell which is the Boutique Hotel and which is the car park?



There's been planning permission submitted for another tower structure within Princess Dock, Plot 3A. (The middle tower) Looks very interesting.


Courtesy of Doug Roberts

[Paul D]

Fingers crossed for this one it will fill a gap in our skyline perfectly.

[wallasey]

Looks brilliant! Will look even better when viewed from the Egremont Ferry Pub with Everton Ridge rising above it!

[Kev]

The evolution of the Liverpool waterfront into one of the most impressive skylines in the United Kingdom, if not Europe, looks set to continue apace with plans for yet another couple of towers around Princes Dock.

Located at Plot 3a, architects RMJM plan a 36 floor mixed use tower consisting of 183 new apartments and a 135 bedroom hotel. The 112.50 metre tall building has been designed for the Mersey Property Company to stand on a strategically important site marking the edge of the dock area leading towards the likes of the Beetham Towers a little further inland.

The architect had a series of six options for the site ranging from a couple of blocks of about 10 floors to taller towers. Opting for this one, the project is conceived as "a series of shifted planes that express its verticality". This is carried on with façade overruns going past the roof level creating outer glass faces that make the tower look even more slender than it is whilst providing a softer termination of the top with the sky.

The high-rise element is attached with a lower-rise block with a grand entrance separating the two creating a visual border between them.

Residential development in Liverpool doesn't hang around and this area is already something of a boom town. The City Lofts Tower that will stand almost next door is being fitted out whilst Beetham are building a second tower and the nearby Alexandra Tower is also under construction.

Interestingly, the planning application for this development shows a master-planned image of various developments for the docks including a second tower next to Alexandra Tower of a similar height to the one being built there now. Whether these plans are still on remains to be seen as it also shows the now defunct designs for New World Square.

The scale of the development at 3a, and in particular the slim-line bravado on display by RMJM shows that the Princes Dock may just be rebuilt as majestic as it's name suggests.

Source....

[Kev]

Developers are planning to build a 36-storey apartment block and hotel on Liverpool's Princes Dock.

The centrepiece of the plan is a 135-bedroom hotel near a semi-enclosed square, housing cafes and public areas with views over the dock basin.

The Mersey Property Company has worked with Liverpool City Council and a number of other agencies to put together the design.

It says it will be "a development of genuine landmark quality".

A spokesman for the Mersey Property Company said: "We are conscious of the heritage that surrounds the site and have been committed to extensive and thorough consultation with all the main parties who, like us, have Liverpool's best interests at heart.

"We aim to deliver an iconic, high quality development for the city's Capital of Culture which will add to the vibrancy already being created."

The project has been designed by London-based architects, RMJM, who were behind the planning of Leith Docks in Edinburgh.

Roger Whiteman of RMJM said the buildings had been carefully planned to make the most of the views to Liverpool landmarks, such as the Liver Building.

Other agencies involved in the plans are Liverpool Vision and the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE).

Source....