“The size is deceptive from the outside.

“Going today was really for my own interest as my background is construction and architecture. It would have been fantastic if it had been finished last year, but visitors to the city saw it being built, that Liverpool is continuing to change and progress, which is very important.

“Hopefully, they will be tempted to come back when everything is finished.”

The facade of the museum was completed in January in time for the Transition ceremony, where a giant screen on its side was a major feature of the night’s programme.

About 150 workers are kept busy at the Pier Head site every day to complete construction work outside and inside the building.

The interior galleries and offices are being plastered and scaffolding surrounding the new museum’s unique “floating” spiral staircase has been taken down.

Work started on the site in April last year, with a huge excavation and a complicated foundation structure, which took six months.

The museum is expected to attract more than 750,000 visitors a year and create 70 permanent jobs once finished.