Liver Building at Night
Opened in 1911, the building is 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 and has 13 floors. Once one of the tallest buildings in the country, the Royal Liver Building is now only the joint-fifth tallest structure in the City of Liverpool. Today the Royal Liver Building is one of the most recognisable landmarks and is home to two fabled Liver Birds that watch over the city and the sea. Legend has it that if these two birds were to fly away, then the city would cease to exist.
The building is an early example of a building constructed using reinforced concrete, and given the building's radical design was considered by some to "be impossible to build".
Since its completion in 1911, it has overlooked the River Mersey from its waterfront location on the Pier Head and forms one of the 'Three Graces' along with the Port of Liverpool Building and the Cunard Building. This is reflected in the building's Grade I listed building status.
The building is crowned by a pair of clock towers: as a ship passed along the river, mariners could tell the time from these.
Atop each tower stand the mythical Liver Birds, designed by Carl Bernard Bartels. The two birds named Bella and Bertie, officially cormorants, are each eighteen feet high and have identical poses, standing upright with half-raised wings. Popular legend has it that while one giant bird looks out over the city to protect its people, the other bird looks out to sea at the new sailors coming in to port. Alternatively, local legend states one Liver Bird is male, looking inland to see if the pubs are open, whilst the other is female, looking out to sea to see if there are any handsome sailors coming up the river.
Liver Building at Night
Opened in 1911, the building is 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 and has 13 floors. Once one of the tallest buildings in the country, the Royal Liver Building is now only the joint-fifth tallest structure in the City of Liverpool. Today the Royal Liver Building is one of the most recognisable landmarks and is home to two fabled Liver Birds that watch over the city and the sea. Legend has it that if these two birds were to fly away, then the city would cease to exist.
The building is an early example of a building constructed using reinforced concrete, and given the building's radical design was considered by some to "be impossible to build".
Since its completion in 1911, it has overlooked the River Mersey from its waterfront location on the Pier Head and forms one of the 'Three Graces' along with the Port of Liverpool Building and the Cunard Building. This is reflected in the building's Grade I listed building status.
The building is crowned by a pair of clock towers: as a ship passed along the river, mariners could tell the time from these.
Atop each tower stand the mythical Liver Birds, designed by Carl Bernard Bartels. The two birds named Bella and Bertie, officially cormorants, are each eighteen feet high and have identical poses, standing upright with half-raised wings. Popular legend has it that while one giant bird looks out over the city to protect its people, the other bird looks out to sea at the new sailors coming in to port. Alternatively, local legend states one Liver Bird is male, looking inland to see if the pubs are open, whilst the other is female, looking out to sea to see if there are any handsome sailors coming up the river.