All-clear for Aura changes

Tweaks to the £100m student accommodation scheme in Liverpool have been given the go-ahead, meaning a sky lounge and “festival zone” will be worked into the plans.

Contractor Vermont has already been on site for a year at the scheme, now working for a consortium made of up of the scheme’s investors, after developer Elliot Group went into administration last March.

A variation of conditions was put before Liverpool City Council’s planning committee yesterday, with scheme architect Falconer Chester Hall making adjustments that sought to increase the amenity offer at the project.

Changes include adding the private sky lounge and rooftop terrace on the scheme’s 15^th floor. The “festival zone” is a café area on the ground floor that will be open to both the public and residents.

Making those changes means losing eight of the originally proposed 999 bedrooms, bringing the number of bedrooms on offer to 991. The site is bound by Erskine Street, Manfred Street and Prospect Street in Islington.

“The works will have a minimal impact on the building’s exterior, but will add significantly to what is already going to be a great place to live and study,” said Steven Nicholson, the project architect from Falconer Chester Hall.

A spokesman from Vermont told Place North West that work is progressing well on the three-block phase one, which is expected to hand over this September, with completion on the second phase due in July 2022.

The transfer of the project to the new vehicle was signed off by the High Court in October 2020.