THIS is a first glance at how the £5m refurbishment of Liverpool’s Exchange Station office complex will look when completed.

In December, the Liverpool Post revealed that developer Ashtenne Space Northwest was to give the Tithebarn Street building a new lease of life.

Exchange Station opened in 1850 and was once one of the biggest mainline railway stations in the North West. The last train pulled out in 1977.

In the 1980s, it was turned into a 190,000 sq ft office complex called Mercury Court and is still home to a number of businesses who will remain on site while the refurbishment work is done.

Ashtenne’s revamp will utilise the station’s original grand archways to create a “magnificent” atrium main entrance.

The refurbished office accommodation will offer tenants superfast broadband and the site will also include meeting rooms, coffee shops and a gym.

Ashtenne Space Northwest, which already operates Liverpool Innovation Park, has appointed BDP as the architect and interior designer for the scheme.

Savills is providing the strategy advice and project management. Hilson Moran is leading the sustainability work  and services design and Keppie Massie is the letting agent.

Work is starting this month and the first phase of the project, including the atrium,  is scheduled for completion in September. Ashtenne director Wayne Locke said: “This major private sector investment project demonstrates our massive confidence in the quality of this office destination and Liverpool as a city.

“The new branding and the plans reflect Exchange Station’s rich history and heritage, with the grandeur of the old building remaining in the façade.

“Inside, however, the interior will be completely transformed to accommodate 21st-century business, technology and networking requirements.”