Work on the famous Pier Head buildings is being carried out because of the fierce competition for office space in the city. Alan Weston reports
THEY are among the most iconic buildings in the world.
The Royal Liver, Cunard, and Port of Liverpool buildings – together known as the “Three Graces” – on Liverpool’s waterfront have each been undergoing a multi-million pound facelift.
At the Royal Liver Building, a major £20m upgrade is nearing completion, its first for 30 years and just in time for the centenary of its opening in 1911.
Work has also been completed on a £15m refurbishment at the Port of Liverpool, in one of the UK’s largest privately-funded restorations of a listed building.
Over at the Cunard, meanwhile, external repairs and maintenance – along with refurbishment of the internal common areas – are set to be completed by September, 2011.
Work on all three is being carried out because of the fierce competition for Grade A office space in the city.
The Royal Liver, headquarters of Royal Liver Assurance, is the only one of the Three Graces still under its original ownership.
However, all three buildings are occupied by a wide variety of commercial tenants, who could have been lured away to newly-created office space in the city’s business district around Old Hall Street unless their surroundings were updated and modernised.
