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Thread: Mersey Ferry Liverpool terminal's Carbuncle award

  1. #1
    Creator & Administrator Kev's Avatar
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    Default Mersey Ferry Liverpool terminal's Carbuncle award

    The flagship ?10.5m ferry terminal at Liverpool's Pier Head has won the "Carbuncle Cup" which is awarded to Britain's worst new building.

    Three judges for the Building Design (BD) magazine said the Merseytravel building was "a shining example of bad architecture and bad planning".

    A spokesman for Merseytravel defended the building saying it had "tremendous community support".

    "This is only the view of two journalists and an architect," he said.

    The building incorporates ferry operations, a Beatles museum and a rooftop restaurant. It was designed by Belfast-based Hamilton architects.



    Three Graces

    The terminal is cantilevered on two sides and clad in limestone to complement the new Liverpool Museum next door.

    The judges added: "It is such an amazing site, directly in front of the Three Graces, but the architects seem barely to have noticed.

    "It is like letting a bad second-year student build next to St Peter's.

    "The architect evidently once looked at a Zaha building in a magazine. It is essentially a horrible sectional idea that has been extruded like a stick of rock."

    Judges were split between the Liverpool waterside building and a structure in Nottingham - both they said were appalling - but in the end they decided that "given the damage inflicted by the ferry terminal on what is a UNESCO world heritage site" it was the more worthy recipient.

    Another of Liverpool's buildings - Cesar Pelli's One Park West - was shortlisted for the Cup.

    The final three buildings that were nominated were: Make's Amenity building for Nottingham University, Hamilton Architects' Ferry Terminal in Liverpool and Queen Margaret University campus, Aberdeen, by Dyer Associates.

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  2. #2
    Senior Member Howie's Avatar
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    Probably not Britain's worst new building, but the scale, proportions, and angles are all awkward. I don't think it's attractive and it certainly is a very poor relation to the new museum, let alone the Three Graces.

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    Senior Member Malc-Downing's Avatar
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    well, i don't hate it and i don't think it's ugly.. just different, nothing wrong with that. but it does feel like somethings missing !! any ideas ?
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    Don't dream it ... be it !

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    Smurf Member scouse smurf's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Malc-Downing View Post
    well, i don't hate it and i don't think it's ugly.. just different, nothing wrong with that. but it does feel like somethings missing !! any ideas ?
    a bomb ?

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    Senior Member Howie's Avatar
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    I recall on this forum a couple of years ago a well known photographer making a derogatory comment about the pics of one less accomplished with a camera. I remember thinking at the time that the contrast between the poorer quality shots and his more professional work actually made it look better so that he should have been congratulating the novice for posting them rather than denigrating his efforts. I was down the Pier Head this afternoon and got exactly the same feeling - that the ugliness of the Ferry Terminal actually makes the Three Graces look even more beautiful so maybe we should be thanking the architects for the juxtaposition of beast and beauty they have created even if it wasn't their intention.

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    Smurf Member scouse smurf's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Howie View Post
    I recall on this forum a couple of years ago a well known photographer making a derogatory comment about the pics of one less accomplished with a camera. I remember thinking at the time that the contrast between the poorer quality shots and his more professional work actually made it look better so that he should have been congratulating the novice for posting them rather than denigrating his efforts. I was down the Pier Head this afternoon and got exactly the same feeling - that the ugliness of the Ferry Terminal actually makes the Three Graces look even more beautiful so maybe we should be thanking the architects for the juxtaposition of beast and beauty they have created even if it wasn't their intention.
    If I remember rightly that was my photo of the liver building, which I did say wasn't very good in the first place . I was just getting involved which is what ya want from ppl on forums

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    I think the building is doing what it is meant to by becoming a talking point. I don't think the idea behind it was to blend in, I think it was to be bold. Whichever way you look at it , it won't please everybody. Remember the old bus station. That was a blot on the landscape that nobody complained about . In fact I remember the day it closed, everybody had a story to tell. It was accepted. When that was pulled down we where left with a glorified portakabin with a tent on the roof. Again, don't recall complaints about that. Would the Pier Head have become a world heritage site if those buildings were still there ???

    I would like to ask the people that don't like the ferry terminal what they would've wanted to see built there. I don't think anybody could've come up with a building that would please everybody. The area around the Pier head now looks fantastic, and is what this city deserves AND can be proud of.

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    Senior Member Waterways's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by baldyman26 View Post
    I think the building is doing what it is meant to by becoming a talking point. I don't think the idea behind it was to blend in, I think it was to be bold.
    It was to ape the adjacent museum, as the Danish architect of the museum noted. They should have got a top architect to design it, not some no marks from Northern Ireland.

    The services are open on the ceilings. The Pompedu Centre in Paris has this, however the building is large and also has the services on the outside too. This is small and looks like the contractor beat it before completion. It looks cheap inside in parts. The outside is well finished.
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    It is after all a ferry terminal, OK so there is also an extension to the Beatles museum, however thats what the tourists are interested in, whats on the inside not how the building looks. The view of the 3 graces isn't blocked in any way, however if you take the view from the ferry itself, the landing stage as a whole is a blot on the landscape, the IOM ferry terminal is just a portakabin, the ferries dock at a giant meccano set, the buildings at princess dock are nothing special.. There are your carbuncle cup winners.

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    Senior Member kevin's Avatar
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    Haven't seen it for real but in the photos it looks like it's suffering from subsidence.

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    Senior Member Waterways's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by baldyman26 View Post
    It is after all a ferry terminal, OK so there is also an extension to the Beatles museum, however thats what the tourists are interested in, whats on the inside not how the building looks. The view of the 3 graces isn't blocked in any way, however if you take the view from the ferry itself, the landing stage as a whole is a blot on the landscape, the IOM ferry terminal is just a portakabin, the ferries dock at a giant meccano set, the buildings at princess dock are nothing special.. There are your carbuncle cup winners.
    The buildings at Princes Dock could be a lot better, BUT....two wrongs do not make a right. The point is that building.

    BTW, the landing stage is temporary and will be much better when complete.
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    Senior Member lenka's Avatar
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    When the ferry docks to the pier, you can watch all the iridescent colors of the rainbow reflected in the glasses of the farry terminal. And this is reflected in the windows, absolutely not spoiling the beauty of "Three Graces".

    Last edited by lenka; 09-02-2009 at 04:46 PM.

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    Senior Member Waterways's Avatar
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    At least they got the colour of the stone right.
    The new Amsterdam at Liverpool?
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    Deprived of its unique dockland waters Liverpool
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    canals to view its modern museum describing
    how it once was?


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    Quote Originally Posted by Howie View Post
    I think it looks great!

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