Waterfront tower 'joyless and weak'
Sep 19 2006
Exclusive By Kate Mansey Daily Post Staff



PLANS for Liverpool's tallest waterfront tower appeared in tatters last night after a government review condemned them as "joyless" and "weak".

Designs for Princes Dock outline an £80m, 36-storey glass-fronted building, near to the World Heritage Site, housing a large hotel and more than 180 apartments. But the body which advises the Government on architecture and design has found little to be impressed with in the proposals for the land, north of the Crowne Plaza hotel.

The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) has raised concerns about the tower's proximity to Liverpool's historic dock wall, warned of its weak architectural base, and criticised the size of the 330-space car park, when the development would only include 183 flats and 135 hotel rooms.

And last night English Heritage suggested the tower should be split into two smaller buildings. The CABE review said: "We find little to admire in the architectural form of the scheme, which appears to us to be joyless.



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