Contractors dig ‘down under’ at Queensland Place
WORK has begun on the foundations for the £22m Queensland Place development in Liverpool following the successful excavation of ‘the city’s biggest hole.’
Some 15,000 tonnes of rubble have been removed from a hole measuring 120 metres long by 60 metres wide and five metres deep to enable the laying of the scheme’s foundations.
The 399-bed student housing project by developer Elliot Group is on the site of the former Nugent Catholic high school, which has remained derelict for more than twenty years. Planning permission was granted in June for a revised project which increased the height and density of the development in line with similar schemes nearby.
“We dug a heck of a hole in the ground,” said developer Elliot Lawless “I thought at times we must be heading for Queensland itself, the amount of rock we were shifting, but it’s over now and we’re cracking on with the foundations.”
The scheme, designed by Liverpool architects Falconer Chester Hall, is on the eastern edge of the University of Liverpool campus and will be ready for occupation in September 2016.
“This is another project where we’ve been able to source a great local supply chain. We’re matching overseas investment with Liverpool skills to improve derelict sites like this and boost the competitiveness of the city’s offer to undergraduates,” added Mr Lawless. The site’s main contractors are Liverpool-based Newry Construction, supported by local structural engineers ADS Structural.
In other news, Elliot Group’s proposed £40m regeneration of the city’s historic Wolstenholme Square goes before Liverpool’s planning committee on September 8 with a recommendation for approval from the head of planning.
The scheme will transform a collection of low quality post-war infill warehousing with a mixed-use scheme comprising four blocks and including a new passageway through to Seel Street.
