Royal Liver Building office refurb gets under way

The transformation of the Royal Liver Building featuring grade A office accommodation, a gym, and restaurants is set to complete in November.

CBRE and contractor Triton have kicked off the works which will see office suites of up to 43,000 sq ft delivered over the ground, mezzanine, and first floors.

A gym is being installed which will be accessed by a new entrance from the Strand, while a restaurant is planned to be incorporated into the building fronting Pier Head. Two atria will be opened up at ground floor level, with a ground floor café bar part of the submission alongside meeting facilities for the building’s occupiers.

The building was purchased by Corestate, a Luxembourg-based international investor, for £48m after being put on the market for the first time in its history. Everton FC owner Farhad Moshiri was Corestate’s partner on the deal, with Barings providing a £29.7m facility to support the acquisition.

Tenants include Everton FC which relocated 160 employees, including its finance, people services, marketing, media and comms teams, to a 28,000 sq ft space on the seventh floor.

Andy Byrne, associate director in CBRE’s office agency team in Liverpool said: “A building in a prime location is no longer sufficient when considering the needs of a modern business. The health and wellbeing of employees is now a huge priority for employers when looking at office space and the new offering at The Royal Liver Building will really tick all the boxes by offering quality, flexible office space as well as leisure spaces and health and wellbeing activities.

“The repositioning of the Royal Liver Building has been focused around providing our tenants with a first class offering which increases productivity, inspires collaboration and encourages occupiers to see their workplace as more than just office space.”

The team also includes Corstorphine + Wright as lead architect; Peter de Figueiredo as heritage advisor; and Curtins as structural and civil engineer.

Earlier this year, the Royal Liver Building 360 tour opened, a tourist attraction including an audio-visual experience inside the building’s clocktower, along with a visitor centre in the lower ground floor showcasing its history.