Royal Liver Building
Coordinates: 53 ° 24 ′ N , 3 ° 0 ′ W
The Royal Liver Building [ rɔɪəl ˈlaɪvə ˈbɪldɪŋ ] is one of the landmarks of Liverpool and was named after the Royal Liver Assurance , who built the building as the headquarters of the insurance company. It was designed by Walter Aubrey Thomas and was one of the first multi-story reinforced concrete structures and one of the first high-rise buildings in Great Britain .
The Royal Liver Building is 90 meters high, has 13 floors and was completed in 1911. It stands in the important Pier Head area on the River Mersey and is one of the Three Graces , as the three buildings between St Nicholas Place and Mann Island in Liverpool are called. The other two Graces, the Port of Liverpool Building and the Cunard Building, are south of the Royal Liver Building.
The Royal Liver Building has two bell towers with 25- foot (7.6 meters ) dials, two of the largest in the UK, and illuminated at night. In 1953, an electronic carillon was added to the clock. On the top domes of the building are the mythical Liver Birds designed by the German Carl Bernard Bartels . The 5.5-meter-high copper birds became a symbol of Liverpool in no time.
The building is now the headquarters of the Royal Liver Friendly Society .
Web links
- Royal Liver Building describes the Pier Head and its buildings.
- Royal Liver Building webcam of the BCC
Individual evidence
- ↑ CARL BERNARD BARTELS, Creator of Liverpool's Liver Birds, http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/gerry.jones/lyver5bartels.html