Liverpool boasts many well-known and impressive landmarks - and the Royal liver Building is no exception.
Once dubbed Britain's first 'skyscraper,' the Grade II listed building is 98m high and first opened on July 19, 1911. Designed by W Aubrey Thomas, the building was one of the earliest examples of a multi-storey concrete building ever erected and cost £533,000 to build – which is more than £50m in today’s money.
One of the Three Graces, along with The Cunard Building and The Port of Liverpool Building, it is famous for being part of the iconic skyline that our city is renowned for. And more recently, the world saw the Liverpool treasure on the big screen in the latest reboot for DC’s caped crusader, The Batman.
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Construction first began on the building in 1907, when it was designed as an office for around 6,000 employees of the Royal Liver Group. It has played an important part in the city's history ever since, and is a world famous landmark, not least for the two Liver birds adorning its clock towers.
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They are nicknamed Bella and Bertie. Bella looks out to sea to ensure the boats arrive safely into port, while Bertie watches over the city protecting the citizens of Liverpool. The clock – Great George – was built in Leicester and was set in motion on July 22, 1911 - the precise moment King George V was crowned.
The clock faces are bigger than those of Big Ben – and each minute hand is 14 feet long.
What are your memories of the Liver Building? Let us know in the comments section below.
By the 1970s the Royal Liver Building was in desperate need of repair and Royal Liver pondered selling it, but instead it refurbished the building from top to bottom. But Royal Liver was hit by the recession from 2008 onwards and eventually joined merger talks with rival Royal London.
The deal was agreed in 2011 and remaining Royal Liver staff moved to Royal London’s Cheshire base the following year, when the Royal Liver name disappeared. In October 2016, the building was put up for sale for the first time in its history, with a Luxembourg-based investment group, Corestate Capital, buying it for £48 million in February 2017.
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Many across the generations have stories of the building, from tourists who visited to locals who worked inside. Among them are memories of the Royal Liver Social Club, which was situated in the basement of the Grade I listed building.
The club was formed by the Board of Directors of the Royal Liver Friendly Society in the early 1980’s and was originally exclusive to Royal Liver Staff, but later opened up to staff from other tenants in the building and by members of the public for special occasions, with permission of the Social Club Committee.
The social club closed in the early noughties and in 2004 became Bartells Café Bar, in memory of Carl Bartells, the designer of the original Liver Birds in 1911.
Today, people can take a tour of the world-famous building with the Royal Liver Building 360. Inside the western tower, closest to the River Mersey, Liver Birds fly visitors through the story of Liverpool as the panoramic film is projected onto the inside walls.
Your body turns as one chapter of the city's history unfolds into the next, from major trade port to the Second World War to The Beatles to the city of culture. After more than a century as an office building, the tour of the western clock tower opened in 2019 as part of a plan to open the building up to the public after Corestate Capital bought it in 2016.
Chris Devaney, who previously ran and opened bars and restaurants across the country for a national company, jumped at the opportunity to use his history degree in putting the exhibition together.
The world also saw the stunning landmark on the big screen this year in The Batman, doubled for Gotham's police headquarters. A stuntman in full Batman costume was secured to the building by a harness and was filmed by a helicopter while the platform above the clock was lit in a deep red, which has become synonymous with the film and features as a motif throughout it.
Today it was announced that global real estate advisor, CBRE, has been appointed to sell the iconic Royal Liver Building in Liverpool for only the second time in its history.
CBRE sold the building for the first time in 2017 on behalf of Royal London, and is now marketing it again on behalf of current owners, Corestate Capital. CBRE is quoting a price of £90m for the building.
Colin Thomasson, Executive Director, Investment Properties, CBRE said: "We are truly honoured to be mandated to sell the Royal Liver Building, the most recognisable office building in the North of England and an icon on the global stage.
"It is an exceptional investment opportunity which offers investors the chance to not only own a piece of history but also a property with considerable potential to add further value and continue the refurbishment programme the current owners have already executed.
"With Grade A office supply in Liverpool currently at an all time low and rising occupier demand, we anticipate strong demand amongst investors for the asset."
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