Hotel planned for Royal Insurance building
A LOCAL developer has submitted plans to redevelop the iconic Royal Insurance Building in Liverpool into a 116-bed hotel with a ground floor restaurant and bar.
Ashall Property of Preston Brook has appointed Liverpool-based architect Falconer Chester Hall to convert the Grade II*-listed property, which has been disused since the late 1980s and had been on English Heritage’s Buildings at Risk register.
A previous plan to convert the building into a hotel had been approved in 2009, but was not developed due to legal and financial issues.
The design brief for the Ashall scheme completed by FCH involved remodelling the space for “mid-range quality hotel accommodation” that would adapt the building for using existing windows and creating bespoke bedroom layouts.
A roof top extension with an external pool area has also been proposed.
It adds that it will also improve the character of the surrounding conservation area and Liverpool’s World Heritage Site.
Falconer Chester Hall managing director Adam Hall said: “We’re delighted to have been given this opportunity to help bring back to life a building which has been vacant for 15 years or so but which remains a jewel in the city’s crown architecturally.”
“It’s a Grade II*-listed building and the proposal we are bringing forward on behalf of Ashall Property seeks to return and enhance its fantastic features.
“This includes the main space at ground floor level which was used for insurance trading and will be retained and integrated as a restaurant.
“We’ve managed to design the building in such a way that the interventions are very minimal.”
The Royal Insurance Building has been described by historic buildings advisor Peter De Figueiredo as “one of Liverpool’s most impressive buildings.
It was constructed as the headquarters for Royal Insurance between 1896-1903 and is within the Castle Street Conservation area.
An assessment of the plans by De Figueiredo state that the proposed conversion by Ashall Property Group “will bring major public benefits and will enhance the present state of the building”.
It is hoped that planning approval will be secured by the beginning of April.
