Milestone hit at Knowledge Quarter Novotel

The 16-storey hotel in Liverpool city centre has topped out, delivered by main contractor Morgan Sindall Construction.

Once complete, the £38m, 221-room hotel will become the tallest hotel in Liverpool. It is located at Paddington Village within the 450-acre Knowledge Quarter Liverpool mayoral development zone, a £1m expansion east of the city centre that will become one of the UK’s innovation districts stimulating growth in the science, technology, education and health sectors.

The £38m Novotel hotel, directly opposite the new Royal Liverpool Hospital, is intended to be a UK flagship for global hospitality group Accor. It will be managed by Legacy Hotels & Resorts once it opens in spring 2022. Legacy is an existing Accor partner and the management company for Accor’s Pullman Liverpool on the waterfront by the ACC arena and convention centre.

Ryder Architecture designed the 16-storey building

The lead architect for the Novotel is Ryder Architecture and the hotel’s public areas have been designed by Koncept, with Faithful+Gould as the project manager.

Richard Potts, Liverpool area director for Morgan Sindall Construction, said: “Although we’ve not been able to mark the topping out of the Novotel in Paddington Village with a traditional ceremony, it’s still right we celebrate what is an excellent achievement by everyone who has played a role in getting us this to this moment in the project.

“The hospitality sector will be crucial to supporting the Liverpool City Region’s economic recovery of the in the wake of Covid-19.

“We’re proud to be playing our role in creating a visually dynamic new building, a source of employment opportunities for local people, and a destination that will welcome people from around the world to our wonderful city for many years to come.”

And Phillip Lassman, vice-president of development at Accor Northern Europe, said: “We believe the new Novotel hotel will be a great fit for the Paddington Village area, offering both leisure and business travellers a city-central location with an internationally recognised brand.

“The hotel will be a UK flagship and a major step for the brand in design terms.”

Morgan Sindall Construction is delivering other projects at the Knowledge Quarter, including The Spine – the Royal College of Physicians’ (RCP) £35m Northern base, which is approaching completion this year.