2009 Liverpool One masterplan
Architect: BDP
Client: Grosvenor
Contractors: Laing O'Rourke and Balfour Beatty
Structural engineer: Waterman Partnership
Services engineer: WSP
Quantity surveyor: Davis Langdon
Access consultant: Nightingale Associates
Contract Value: £500m
Date of occupation: October 2008
Gross internal area: Over 2m sq ft, 200,000 sq m
The planners, Liverpool City Council: A streamlined decision-making process was established, supported by all the major political parties on the council, which allowed a dedicated team of officers to review and approve designs alongside the developer. This ensured that the architect, client and local planning authority were able to work closely together to shape the design from concept stage through to final detailed approval. The system meant all those involved could operate most productively and this also provided the conditions necessary to facilitate the best designs.
The use of a range of different architects, each challenged through a competitive design review process to design individual sites within a cohesive set of master-plan parameters, has delivered a diverse, high quality and very popular addition to the city.
The finished product has totally fulfilled original aspiration and set a new benchmark for future development. The process by which this was achieved provides a model for planning delivery and the next challenge for both Liverpool One and the City is to build on this achievement.
The developer, Grosvenor: The masterplan created several new places, not one large development, and provides scope for a new architecture that is varied but always to the highest quality. The consequence of adopting such a position was that Grosvenor, which recruited 26 architecture practices to each design a component of the project, had to perform a precarious balancing act. Today the completed development appears inherently logical, although it didn't feel that way at the beginning. The reason that Liverpool One feels so natural is that every thought process, each twist and turn of the designer's pen, was tested to within an inch of its life. Nothing was left unchallenged and every permutation was scrutinised by a review panel.
The ambition was for a massive extension to what Liverpool already offered, but of higher quality, broader appeal, better served and integrated into what was already there. The proposed solution was ambitious and wide ranging: a 1.65m sq ft retail and leisure development "anchored" by two premier league department stores; a good range of "semi anchors", speciality shops and a good number of independent retailers; a fuller range of fashion and catering outlets, across all prices.
Liverpool now boasts a breadth and diversity of offer: cultural facilities, shopping, leisure, architecture, dining and socialising, all seamlessly integrated in a compact area, that is incomparable to anywhere else in the United Kingdom. Liverpool's success, and that of Liverpool One, is attributable to more than simply improved and expanded facilities.
The city's confidence and resolute character have returned. Its renewed energy and sense of pride are tangible.
The architect, BDP: BDP was concept architect for five buildings and executive architect for a further nine, but the work of many architects is represented here. Our landscape designers were responsible for all aspects of public realm work and our lighting team designed for buildings and public areas across the entire scheme.
One of our main challenges was linking Liverpool One's new boundaries with existing districts such as the bohemian Ropewalks area and the world famous Mersey waterfront. We had to ensure that the individual character of these areas was not compromised by Liverpool One's 42-acre footprint.
Great architectural design isn't solely about physical structures. Masterplanning takes in a broad range of disciplines and plays a key role in the delivery of sustainable urban regeneration.
The reward is that people enjoy the space and the quality of what we've delivered. The impact has been huge. The masterplan has delivered city-centre living and city-centre working and something that has integrated into the city.
The judges: The Liverpool One masterplan has single-handedly reversed the fortunes of the city by bringing a new social and economic vibrancy to what was 42 acres of derelict but historic buildings at its heart. The result is a vibrant and economically successful retail, leisure and mixed-use quarter - an entirely revitalised city centre that now connects properly with the docks.
BDP set down generous public space networks and rigorous yet flexible design briefs and have worked with a broad range of architects to evolve the plan and deliver buildings of a very high quality. That one project has been able to deliver sufficient critical mass to regenerate a city of such importance is the result of an outstanding client with vision and commitment to delivering design excellence and urban coherence.
