An Architectural Odyssey

On a freewheeling walk through Liverpool, KALPANA SUNDER discovers architectural marvels and priceless pieces of history repurposed into contemporary social hubs.

- Kalpana Sunder

I am in Liverpool, a city that most people know for its music and football. Few realise that it’s also an architecturally stunning city, with the most number of UNESCO-listed buildings in the United Kingdom outside London. For decades, it was a prosperous port city, where ships brought in tobacco, silk, and sugar. Shipping and insurance companies built grandiose offices, and iconic civic buildings like the Liverpool Town Hall came up. In fact, Liverpool has been called England’s first Victorian city.

In 2004, large parts of the mercantile port city were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Today, Liverpool has as many as 2,500 listed buildings, and around 27 of them are Grade 1. Over the last few years, the town has undergone a renaissance as a cultural centre; warehouses and old buildings have been spruced up and converted into museums, galleries, or restaurants. My address, Titanic Hotel Liverpool, was a tobacco warehouse in the 19th century; today, it’s a stylish hotel with high ceilings and exposed brick work—draped in a nautical theme.

Coming out of the Liverpool Lime Street railway station, my eyes are first drawn to the magnificent St George’s Hall, which used to house law courts and is now used for concerts, receptions, and lectures. Queen Victoria once declared that the “building was worthy of ancient Greece.” This was where Charles Dickens gave public readings of his books. With Corinthian columns, 30,000 Minton tiles on the floor, and bronze doors, this Neo-Classical building dates back to 1854 and was one of the first public buildings in the UK to be fitted with air conditioning. The space in front of the building has been used over the years for public rallies and meetings.