Comment: Prize buildings enhance our city

Apr 9 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

THERE are few subjects that prompt a bigger mailbag to the Liverpool Daily Post than planning. It is a subject that provokes strong opinions, especially when the proposals concern the city centre.

So it is heartening that some of the city’s latest additions are shortlisted for prestigious awards to celebrate their design.

The expected front-runner in the race for recognition in this year’s Royal Institute of British Architects awards is the King’s Waterfront Arena and Convention Centre. Designed by Wilkinson Eyre, ACC Liverpool has been hailed as a vital addition to the waterfront and is one of the most exciting developments in the city.

Another significant name in the RIBA shortlist is the Bluecoat. That the city’s oldest secular building is entered in the awards is a tremendous fillip for Dutch architects BIQ and their Liverpool partners, who poured their hearts into the transformation and preservation of this city centre jewel.

Other entries include Liverpool architects Shed KM for their Chimney Pot Park in Langworthy, and Matchbox in Speke, and architects BDP for the Aintree Grandstand.

The list demonstrates how the skyline of cranes has helped transform Liverpool over the past few years. As the protective hoardings are slowly taken down, a shining new city is starting be revealed – and we should all be prepared to welcome these additions with an open mind. Liverpool cannot stand still or deny change. What these new buildings show, however, is that we can enhance what already exists through carefully planned and executed new additions.

The planned waterfront museum is already attracting controversy; those watching with disapproving eyes should ask themselves just what they hope to achieve with their gloom. Liverpool is a city which is in the process of re-inventing itself, and we should all be prepared to be charmed by the butterfly that is gradually emerging from a chrysalis of scaffolding.