Royal Liver Building


The Royal Liver Building is a Grade I listed building in Liverpool, England. It is located at the Pier Head and along with the neighbouring Cunard Building and Port of Liverpool Building is one of Liverpool's Three Graces, which line the city's waterfront. It was also part of Liverpool's formerly UNESCO-designated World Heritage Maritime Mercantile City.
Opened in 1911, the building was the purpose-built home of the Royal Liver Assurance group, which had been set up in the city in 1850 to provide locals with assistance related to losing a wage-earning relative. One of the first buildings in the world to be built using reinforced concrete, the Royal Liver Building stands at tall to the top of the spires, to the top of the birds and to the main roof. Upon completion, it became the tallest building in Europe; a title which it held for 29 years until it was surpassed by Terrazza Martini Tower in 1940.
The Royal Liver Building is one of the most recognisable landmarks in the city of Liverpool with its two fabled Liver birds, which watch over the city and the sea.

History

In 1907, the Royal Liver Group had over 6,000 employees. Given the need for larger premises, the company approved the construction of a new head office. The building was designed by Walter Aubrey Thomas and built by L. G. Mouchel; the foundation stone was laid on 11 May 1908 and just 3 years later, on 19 July 1911, the building was officially opened by Lord Sheffield. The building is an early example of a building constructed using reinforced concrete, and given the building's radical design was considered by some to "be impossible to build".
During the early 1950s, the sixth floor was occupied and used by No 3 Movements Unit of the Royal Air Force, overseeing and controlling the movement of RAF personnel and goods through the port.
In 1953, electronic chimes were installed to serve as a memorial to the members of the Royal Liver Friendly Society who died during the two World Wars. During hours of darkness, the clock dials are illuminated.
The building remained the head office for Royal Liver Assurance until its merger with Royal London Group in 2011.
In October 2016, the building was put up for sale for the first time in its history. The owner instructed CBRE Group to list the sale with a guide price of more than £40m. In February 2017, Luxembourg-based investment group, Corestate Capital, bought the building for £48 million along with Everton F.C. majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri. Moshiri planned to run Everton's affairs from the building and have his own office to include a view of the new stadium on Bramley Moore Dock.
In 2019, as part of a larger repositioning of the building, a visitor attraction was opened giving the public the chance to tour the West Clock Tower of the building on a regular basis for the first time in its then 108 year history. Previously this had only been open to the public during Heritage Open Days, which have been running during September each year since 1994.
The Liver Building was sold again in 2025, with long-term tenant Princes Group purchasing the building for £60 million.

Description

The building overlooks the River Mersey from its waterfront location on the Pier Head and forms one of the 'Three Graces' along with the Port of Liverpool Building and the Cunard Building. It has ten storeys, including two in the roof. An copper Liver bird stands on each clock tower, designed by Carl Bernard Bartels.
The building is crowned by a pair of clock towers. The clocks were made by Gent and Co. of Leicester. The clock faces are in diameter, larger than those of London's famous landmark, the Great Westminster Clock, holding the distinction of being the largest electronically driven clocks in the UK.
The four clock faces have no numerals, only facets indicating the 12 hours. These are disposed as three on the riverside tower, facing west/north/south, the remaining one on the landward tower facing east. There is only one mechanism driving the faces on both of the towers. They were originally named George clocks, because they were started at the precise time that King George V was crowned on 22 June 1911.

Tenants

There are currently over 19 tenants in the Royal Liver Building including:
  • Evelyn Partners
  • Axia Group
  • Kyndryl
  • Open Media
  • Culture City
  • Everton FC
  • Grant Thornton
  • HSBC
  • ITV
  • Mott MacDonald
  • The Venue at the Royal Liver Building
  • Pershing
  • Elliot Wakefield Inc.
  • Princes Group
  • Publiship
  • Cloud Jungle
  • SportPesa
  • USS
  • Royal Liver Building 360 – a visitor attraction
  • Liverpool Vaults & Liverpool Bullion
  • Aesthetics of The Royal Liver Building
  • Primas Law
  • Barnett Waddingham