Royal Liver Building

Royal Liver Building
Royal Liver Building, Pier Head, Liverpool
Alternative names	The Liver Building Royal Liver Assurance Building
General information
Type	Commercial offices
Location	Pier Head, Liverpool, England, United Kingdom
Coordinates	53°24′21″N 2°59′45″W / 53.4058°N 2.9958°W / 53.4058; -2.9958
Construction started	1908
Completed	1911
Cost	£800,000
Owner	Corestate Capital
Height
Architectural	98.2 m (322 ft)
Roof	50.9 m (167 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	13
Lifts/elevators	12
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Walter Aubrey Thomas
Main contractor	Edmund Nuttall Limited
Designations
Listed Building – Grade I
Official name	Royal Liver Building
Designated	12 July 1966
Reference no.	1356370
References
[1][2][3][4]

The Royal Liver Building /ˈlaɪvər/ 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 98.2 m (322 ft) tall to the top of the spires, 103.7 m (340 ft) to the top of the birds and 50.9 m (167 ft) to the main roof.

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. Legend has it that if the two birds were to fly away, the city would cease to exist.

The Liver Birds are 5.5 m (18 ft) high. Their added height gives the Royal Liver Building an overall height of 103.7 m (340 ft). A building of skyscraper proportion that was once one of the tallest buildings in the country, the Royal Liver Building is currently the fourth-tallest building in Liverpool.