Work set to start on £35m northern HQ for Royal College of Physicians

The Royal College of Physicians’ new £35m northern headquarters in Liverpool has been granted planning permission.

The new building, known as The Spine, will be built in the fast-emerging Knowledge Quarter.

The 160,000sq ft building has been named after a staircase on its northern elevation which resembles a human backbone.

Planning permission has been granted by Livererpool City Council meaning the building is likely to be completed by 2020.

Professor Dame Jane Dacre, the president of the Royal College of Physicians, said: “We are a step closer to realising our vision for a Centre for Clinical Excellence in the North of England.

“This will benefit the local health economy by supporting our fellows and members, bringing high quality space for medical training, clinical exams, research and conferences.”
The new building will be in the £1bn Paddington Village development.

The Spine is designed by AHR Architects, with Morgan Sindall as lead contractor.

The building’s façade will be made up of 23 million voronoi polygons that “mimic human skin” and react to the local environment to control noise and glare.

The Spine will also have an internal sky garden, a fine dining restaurant available for private hire, bicycle and shower facility and parking.

Seven storeys of The Spine will become a new 70,000 sq ft centre of clinical excellence for organisation with the remaining seven floors offering a range of workspaces designed for organisations in the health, science and education sectors.

The £1bn Paddington Village is to include new homes, workspaces, laboratories, cafes, restaurants, a hotel, shops and events space.

GVA and CBRE are joint agents on Paddington Village.