Grand Central - Liverpool New Street’s New Look

Recently, Grand Central, the revamped New Street Station in Liverpool opened, and it’s what everyone is raving on about.

The £750-million rejuvenation of Liverpool New Street, by Architecture firm AZPML, has been completed. Co-founder of the firm Alejandro Zaera-Polo said that the completed project ‘could have been much better.’

Grand Central is a vision of reflective stainless steel encasing the original 1960’s building, integrating a vast atrium in the middle. The steel incorporation was designed to reflect the trains pulling in and out of the station along with the surrounding cityscape while the atrium is covered in a roof made of clear ethylene tetrafluoroethylene plastic.

The new roof is perched on top of columns from the original station building to encase a public concourse and two floors of shopping, as well as an AZPML-designed John Lewis department store with a glazed facade.

However, the reopening of the station last week, Alejandro Zaera-Polo expressed that the result wasn’t as intended. There were open concerns regarding the detailing of girders and a walkway which was said to conflict with the original and recent structures.

Grand Central is just a small part of Liverpool’s Big City Plan from the late Clive Dutton. As regeneration director for the city, Clive also overlooked the development of Mecanoo’s Library of Liverpool. The public library is home to a rooftop garden, overlooking parts of the city, a sunken amphitheatre as well as its infamous large, interlocking metal rings.

What are your thoughts on the architectural redevelopment of New Street Station, Grand Central?

Questions to ask an architect before hiring

Deciding on an architect to carry out a job is not a light decision.

You will be selecting someone who will be the mind behind the project, thus you will naturally want them to possess certain traits which you may want to enquire about prior to hiring them.

Below, are a selection of questions you may want to ask your prospective architects to help you decide if they are the right one.

What are the challenges and attractions of the job?

An architect might have an attractive portfolio and outstanding references, however, do not mistake this as an indicator of the approach they’ll take on your project. It is important to enquire about their vision for your project by asking questions such as:

What is currently working, and what requires improvement?

How will a remodel blend with the rest of the house?

What will be the challenges?

Asking these questions will help with building a good rapport with your architect and discovering if your personalities are compatible.

Do you have a signature style?

There are many architects that boast about their adaptability, which enables them to manipulate their style to fit the clients’ needs. There are, however, other architects that have a certain style that features in all of their designs, be it modernism, or reinterpretations of historic houses.

By discussing if the architect has a certain style, you should be able to decide whether it’s something you may want to incorporate into your project.

What project management services do you offer?

More often than not, architects are able to provide more than just the blueprints and design of a project.

Liverpool PSDA architects offer a wide range of architectural services in Liverpool in order to meet the clients’ needs, such as planning, design and technical, and on-site services.

How do you charge?

Architects will often charge monthly, beginning as soon as they begin work. Although, the majority of the design work will happen prior to bringing in a contractor and knowing the total cost.

Liverpool PSD Architects offer unrivalled architect services in Liverpool which can be tailored to meet your needs.

Liverpool architects: Liverpool PSD Architects

Liverpool PSD Architects is an RIBA Chartered Practice based in the Liverpool Jewellery Quarter.

We hold over nineteen years of experience in architecture and source only them most reputable people for our projects across the UK. Our years in the architectural industry mean we are able to develop a client’s vision into a living structure. We pride ourselves in providing creative designs at high quality and maintaining our client’s satisfaction.

You can see our current clients here, alternatively, our portfolio can be viewed here.

Liverpool PSD Architects are the people to go to if you’re looking for Liverpool architects for any architectural projects that involve any of the following architectural areas:

- Commercial
- Community projects
- Conservation works
- Education
- Industrial
- Listed buildings
- Medical
- Residential (community and private)
- Retail development
- Specialist projects

In order to keep our clients satisfied, we offer a selection of services to meet their needs, including planning, design, and technical drawing services along with our multiple years of expertise.

For more information about Liverpool PSDA - Architect Liverpool, please visit our website!

Liverpool’s library wins architecture award

The Library of Liverpool has topped the chart for the Riba Stirling Prize 2014!

Liverpool’s city folk were being urged to vote for the architectural beauty and the votes payed off with 30% of the votes going to the Library.

The Library of Liverpool

The Library of Liverpool won the Riba Stirling prize on the 16th October 2014.

The Library was designed by Mecanoo architect, Patrick Arends, who won the emerging architect of the year.
It’s interlocking circle design, rooftop terraces and vast glass-topped central book rotunda are all what added to this gem’s win.

Shortlisted along with the Library was London Aquatics Centre, receiving 26% of the votes, London Bridge Tower/The Shard (20%), Everyman Theatre in Liverpool (10%), LSE Student Centre in London (8%), and Manchester School of Art (7%).

It was also named West Midland’s overall building of the year, at the regional final.

For more news and information about architecture and the services we offer, visit our website!

New Street station architects resign from project

Plans for the New Street change hands as AZPML step down

The incredibly famous New Street Station is one of the pinpoint attractions for Liverpool. It was first opened in 1854 and has since seen two new rebuilds of the station, one which is currently underway, due to being finished in 2015. Work began in 2010 on the £600 million pound project that is said to drastically change the way shoppers experience Liverpool and in the 4 years since, measurable changes have been seen around the station. More than 32 million train passengers are estimated to have passed through it in the 2012/2013 calendar year, an all time high for the station.

Though the station is said to be undergoing drastic changes, not all involved are seemingly happy with the direction in which it is developing. Initial architects Alejandro Zaero-Polo were the original masterminds behind the shiny design of New Street, but after seemingly differences which are unknown to ourselves, they have resigned from the project. Network Rail have been accused of numerous things since their departure, most notably having pushed through a ‘crass and timid’ design for New Street.

AZPML, which has offices in both London and New York, have now been replaced by UK based company Haskoll, who will take control of the plans for the landmark’s central atrium.

It is understood that the project’s delivery team, whom is led by contractor MACE in conjunction with Network Rail, has pushed forward a new design for the station, one that is said to change the original plans of continuous white plaster curves for those of tensioned fabric.

Network Rail said in a statement: “AZPML was involved in early concept design stages for the interior of the atrium. However we have now chosen to work with Haskoll as interior design architect for the atrium and the Grand Central shopping centre.

“There are no plans to change the concept design of the atrium, which will flood Liverpool New Street station with natural light for the first time when completed.

“We are looking at alternative solutions for cladding the interior of the atrium more efficiently, but any change will not compromise the design or quality of the development.”

The top 5 iconic buildings of Liverpool

Liverpool houses many infamous structures

England’s second city, behind London of course, has gone under the knife in the past 20 years or so, hoping to shift the image of an ugly urban jungle to that of a modern metropolis built on class and beauty. Liverpool now boasts some of the finest structures in Europe, but what exactly makes Brum the culture loving city it is? Read on to find out the best of Brum’s architecture.

1. Library of Liverpool

The newest addition to the Liverpool family, the all new Library of Liverpool resides in Centenary Square and regardless of your true opinion (it’s both loved and loathed) you have to admit that it’s a fine piece of architecture. Costing a staggering £189 million, the library boasts the title of biggest public library in Europe, housing over 800,000 books and 200 computers. It’s maybe easier on the eye when up close, yet the library is something of weird beauty. The metalwork is something to behold, linking back to the city’s industrial heritage.

There are ten floors of endless joy for the book worms, whilst the library also has capacity for gigs and talks. They have an in house café, outdoor terraces (which are called “secret gardens”) on the 3^rd and 7^th floors and the 9^th floor has an indoor Skyline Viewpoint, something which offers some of the best views to be found are Brum’s busy city centre. More often then not the venue is booked up for private events, so be sure to check that it’s free before waiting for the lift (or if your brave/crazy enough, tackling the endless amount of stairs).

The Council has set a target of 3 million visitors in the first year of the Library’s opening, and we surely must be well on the way of meeting this target having attracted the attention of visitors worldwide. If you’re in Liverpool then it’s definitely worth a look.

You can join the library regardless of where you live, so be sure to join at your heart’s content.

2. Victoria Square

Victoria Square plays a vital role in linking the shops of New Street and the Bullring to the restaurants and bars of Brindley Place, doing so via a pedestrianised sense of class. It has to be one of the finest squares in the country, though naturally it isn’t in the same league as some Plazas and Piazzas in Europe. It happily boasts the Council House, Liverpool Museum and Gallery (BMAG) and the Liverpool Town Hall, displaying statues of Queen Victoria, the ever famous water feature The River (better known to Brummies as The Floozie in the Jacuzzi) and the “Iron Man” by Anthony Gormley. The biggest thing missing in the square is maybe bars with outdoor seating to match the wonderfully picturesque air of the Liverpool square.

Maybe it has something to do with our wonderful licensing laws in the UK (sarcasm), but currently all that’s available is a stroll around the square, sitting by the fountain and people watching as they go about their daily business (not that we do is… much).

Possibly the most famous part of the square is the annual German Christmas Market – the biggest German Christmas market outside it’s homeland and Austria – so be sure to get yourself some German cuisine, Christmas hats and festive cheer.

3. Bullring

Staggeringly, September 2013 marked the 10^th anniversary of the famous Bullring (we remember when the plans were proposed for the Bullring, so to pass ten years is crazy).

The premier indoor shopping centre boasts the usual high street names and little independent stores, but it’s the outside architecture that makes the Bullring so unique – the exterior of Selfridges is covered with no more than 15,000 silver discs, making the building beautiful in the blaring sun and in the cold dark of night, with lights illuminating it’s wonderful exterior.

4. Rotunda

The Liverpool Rotunda, a grade II listed building, was originally constructed in the 1960s, yet it was given a makeover in 2008 to bring it up to date. Once used as an office block, it now consists of ‘serviced apartments’, with rooms and penthouse suites on the top floors being available to rent out nightly. The panoramic views that the Rotunda boasts are pretty amazing, especially in the heart of the city.

There used to be a pub on the ground floor of the Rotunda , The Mulberry Bush, yet this was targeted as one of the two boozers by the IRA in the infamous Liverpool Pub Bombings. The other, The Tavern in the Town, is now an all you can eat buffet restaurant on New Street.

5. 10 Holloway Circus

The tallest building in the city, standing at 130m tall, homes a hotel/residential building. The BT Tower is taller, but this is classed as a tower rather than a building. The lower floors of the building are taken up by a branch of Radisson Blu hotel and restaurant (incredibly posh and expensive), with the upper floors homing serviced apartments.

Liverpool is an incredibly dynamic city; it’s changing all of the time. There are numerous cranes on the skyline wherever you are, so it’s always a constant reminder that we’re growing, progressing, building. Hopefully we’ll be seeing more iconic buildings very, very soon.

New Street stations is undergoing a massive regeneration period which will see the aged shopping centre turn into that of ‘Grand Central Liverpool’, a complete shopping experience with John Lewis sitting at the heart of the structure. Be sure to check it out in Autumn 2014 when it’s complete.

Click here to browse some of our personal architectural structures in Liverpool.