cont ...

looking at various pics throughout the previous thread, the office building is not at all very bi, in fact it isnt even as big as RSA. there are still 3 floors to be added but they wont make much of a difference. on the other hand the residential building is only 1/3 rd done so that looks like it is going to be masive.

The office tower is only going to be 17 mikes, although I suspect that the floor to ceiling height will be greater than for RSA (to accommodate computer flooring and air conditioning). The residential tower will be 28 mikes and therefore quite a bit taller than RSA - although dwarfed by West Tower.

I'm actually getting quite excited about Unity now. I know it was always going to be bigger than the renders showed but it was easy to forget. The fact it's looking rather high now and isn't nearly finished shows how big this building will be. It should make that area look much more dense and busier a should presume.

Look what i did using Sim city 3000, i know its an old game but i don't care...

http://www.magix-photos.com/mediapool/76/32/9E/10/C5/4E/11/D9/A2/E8/56/47/D4/8B/29/30/10/02901910D1C911D9BF53E92CD48B281D.jpg

whats the new one called?

the one on the left is the Residential and on the right is the Office

Sim City 4

West,

That is cool. I'm gonna go on SC3000 tonight. Did you download the Liver Building? That's a class Unity you've made!

That Unity is great! :)

The Liver Building is from the UK edition isn't?

ive got sim city 3000 world edition, just finnishing off unity office now

I'm actually getting quite excited about Unity now. I know it was always going to be bigger than the renders showed but it was easy to forget. The fact it's looking rather high now and isn't nearly finished shows how big this building will be. It should make that area look much more dense and busier a should presume.

Gareth, three very important landmarks still to reach, first is the completion of the concrete frame up to 27 storey`s, second is the start of the cladding which will shows us all just what this "chequer "finish look like and third is the building of "my" :) penthouse port a cabin. I just know this building will be talked about as much if not more that my favorite car park across the road in Princes Dock.

The office core can now clearly be seen from Sandhills.

http://img211.echo.cx/img211/7743/unity176bi.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

http://img211.echo.cx/img211/2043/unity183zg.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

http://img211.echo.cx/img211/9436/unity192hl.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

http://img211.echo.cx/img211/751/unity202hs.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

http://img211.echo.cx/img211/5766/unity216gk.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

:dunno: Current issue of Move magazine is advertising a ready to view apartment. The pic shows a couple looking out towards the Mersey with the Liver Bldg to the left:dunno:

:dunno: Current issue of Move magazine is advertising a ready to view apartment. The pic shows a couple looking out towards the Mersey with the Liver Bldg to the left:dunno:



Me and the girlfriend saw an advert in the Echo a couple of years ago advertising a show apartment at City Quay (near the Britannia pub). We were just starting househunting at the time and thought it would be a good idea to take a look (didnt realise they were going for £199,000!!).

When we got there the 'show apartment' was just a portakabin that had been furnished and decorated how one of the actual apartments might look when finished. It was crap and i've since found out that the actual apartments look nothing like the show apartments in the portakabin!

My guess is that thats what they're doing at Unity.

The pic used in Your Move magazine is probably just computer generated.

how many floors is the office core now?

the show apartment is at the unity site on chapell street, go in and have a look, the model is also there

Taken yesterday

http://www.**************************/unitywaterfront.jpg

i rekon the top of the office service core will be the height of the cabin on the crane where the work man sits on the middle crane. ie the tallest 1

I reckon higher. :cheers:

amazing contrast there between liverpool and birkenhead little and large.

has the residential tower actually got a service core. i can't see it visible on any pictures posted?

has the residential tower actually got a service core. i can't see it visible on any pictures posted?

Good point!

You would expect service cores for a residential block to be smaller than those for an office block as the population is less. A core was started on the Rumford Place side of the site but stopped at about ten storeys. I suppose that this will be extended as the tower rises.

Good point!

You would expect service cores for a residential block to be smaller than those for an office block as the population is less. A core was started on the Rumford Place side of the site but stopped at about ten storeys. I suppose that this will be extended as the tower rises.

It may well have stopped at 10 so as not to hinder access to the full width of the link block, one of Doug`s photo`s does show the concrete pump up at roof level approx were the residential service core should be.

Taken yesterday

http://www.**************************/unitywaterfront.jpg

What an amazing picture that is,well done Dave. :)

she's coming on isn't she. where abouts on that picture do you reckon it will be when its finished. the office tower that is

Wow, the Unity cranes look amazing. Never before have I seen tower cranes operating at that angle- just goes to show how cramped that area is.

I love that pic too, its also a really cool contrast how you have so much activity and development in the foreground, yet across the water its all greenery and small estates, it makes it look really cool.

she's coming on isn't she. where abouts on that picture do you reckon it will be when its finished. the office tower that is

I don't think that the main double core will go up much higher than it is in Dave's photo - maybe a mike or two only. The smaller core to the right hand side should be near the eastern end of the tower and I would expect it to carry on to the same height as the main core. The other small core to the left hand side is already finished, probably at the level of the setback in the building and should be near the west side of the tower.

I love that pic too, its also a really cool contrast how you have so much activity and development in the foreground, yet across the water its all greenery and small estates, it makes it look really cool.

Well put. :cheers:

Plus I think this picture also illustrates the...importants of RSA building. If Liverpool has aspirations to become the mini-manhatten (and with all these towers going up at the waterfront, it may not be too much an exhaggeration in the next few years).. then I think its paramount that the RSA stays.. It may be big, squat, bulky and not very inspiring but it has that certain Transatlantic feel to it, certainly wouldn't be out of place in Manhatten (not that you'd see it).. So, let her stay.. It all helps spread out and bulk up the skyline. :)

I've always said that a diversity of building styles is what makes a city unique.
Agreed the RSA should stay for that reason. :cheers:

the rsa is strange sometimes i love it then i hate it.

the rsa is strange sometimes i love it then i hate it.

Love it when it's lit up in all its glory at night. Hate it in the cold light of day.

Love it when it's lit up in all its glory at night. Hate it in the cold light of day.

HEAR, HEAR, My thoughts exactly :)

Do you reckon it would be viable to reclad RSA somehow? Or would that make it look even less attractive?

BTW Dave that is one excellent shot - I love the crowded and ever changing skyline there :D

Love it when it's lit up in all its glory at night. Hate it in the cold light of day.
spot on there.

Unity from 18th floor of MSCP today, pity about the weather today, sunny all week then crap at weekend of River Festival.


http://www.123lcc.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/post/zUnity11.JPG

its gonna have an impact thats for sure

I counted yesterday eleven mikes for the residential tower, four for the office tower, with the office tower main service cores now up to about sixteen. As this core is now becoming quite a landmark, it is pretty clear that the residential tower will have far more impact on central Liverpool than Beetham 1.

when you look at the cars and imagine someone looking up at it you get a feel of the size

Preston's tallest building is a 16-storey office building and makes a big impact (a negative one cos its ugly and crap) so the office building in this scheme alone should be fab.
Still a great pity they decided to stick that disgusting cabin on top of the resi.

Preston's tallest building is a 16-storey office building and makes a big impact (a negative one cos its ugly and crap) so the office building in this scheme alone should be fab.
Still a great pity they decided to stick that disgusting cabin on top of the resi.
i dont think you can really comment yet this will be a qaulity building im sure.

Preston's tallest building is a 16-storey office building and makes a big impact (a negative one cos its ugly and crap) so the office building in this scheme alone should be fab.
Still a great pity they decided to stick that disgusting cabin on top of the resi.
Yes let's wait till it's built, i think the portakabin will look great, wonder what lucky sod will own that view.

As this core is now becoming quite a landmark, it is pretty clear that the residential tower will have far more impact on central Liverpool than Beetham 1.

Music to my ears. But how much taller will the residential tower be than the office block? The floor to ceiling heights will surely be lower in the residential tower.

Yes let's wait till it's built, i think the portakabin will look great, wonder what lucky sod will own that view.

Why don't we all chip in and buy it between us. It would make a great place for a meetup. :cheers:

Unity, 14th June

http://www.**************************/junity.jpg

Fantastic as ever Dave, I like the cloud structure behind the towering white cranes, very nice effect.

The density in that area will be pretty impressive when it's all finished.

Very nice. How many floors is that core upto now?

i didnt realise unity is going to be bigger than beetham 1.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b90/zeussy/P6150543.jpg

You're not an EC Harris monkey are you Ubertastico? :?

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b90/zeussy/P6150544.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b90/zeussy/P6150546.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b90/zeussy/P6150547.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b90/zeussy/P6150548.jpg

Ace pics! Keep 'em coming! :cheers:

soz that is all I have for now. Might go back there in a few months.

While you're here, post that last pic in the Urban Photo Contest. It's more than worthy of a place. :)

soz that is all I have for now. Might go back there in a few months.
Wow, more great new picture angles. :cheers:

not the best of angles, those last pics were a hard act to follow, but nevertheless, this shows the height that unity is creeping up to!

http://onfinite.com/libraries/496629/83b.jpg

oh and a rendering, not mine lol

http://onfinite.com/libraries/496628/9f6.jpg

by the luks of things that service core is complete. maybe 1 more floor

But how much taller will the residential tower be than the office block? The floor to ceiling heights will surely be lower in the residential tower.

I was wondering, wouldn't the residential and office buildings have to have the same floor to ceiling heights because of the link block, or is it only the ground floors that are linked?

I think its only the ground floor. If you look at Ubertastico's (crap name ;)) second pic, it shows the link block on the apartment building ending half way. It they were to be the same, wouldn't it've been easier to continue the block around? :?

It carries on and partially wraps around the side of the residential doesn't it? :?

Almost forgot, fantastic pics Uber! :cheers:

Like this.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/Martin_S/DevelopmentSummary/UnityL.jpg

Looks like it's the same floor heights as the office tower, hard to tell for the resi though.

I think its only the ground floor. If you look at Ubertastico's (crap name ;)) second pic, it shows the link block on the apartment building ending half way. It they were to be the same, wouldn't it've been easier to continue the block around? :?

Crap name? Crap name? You will worship at the RSA temple and pray to this God of a 1970s sun-dried clay coloured aztec-style tower for forgiveness.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b90/zeussy/P6150545.jpg

If you see those brick tunnel-venting towers just to the left of JSA....I wonder if the architect started with some idea that his tower should blend with them, and took them as his inspiration, and then went on holiday to Mexico, got pissed on tequila, and then it all just spiralled out of control?

:puke: Please! No more pics of that! :puke:

I am glad you have repented before the RSA God of Style and Taste.

Perhaps the people involved in the construction of the Aztec temple that is RSA could be sacrificed in the traditional Aztec way at the top of the tower? Seems a fare price to pay if you ask me. Plus it would be a reminder to other architects not to build shite in our magnificant ciudad! Muahaha.

On a lighter note - where are you taking these pics from ubertastico?

I , Being Sad, quite like RSA i think th Police HQ is uglier and its better looking than the whole of Kirkby.

the police Hq always seems to stand out like a MULTI-STORY car park in Lake district or a young person in southport (even sadder i liked steershouse and canning place)

I , Being Sad, quite like RSA i think th Police HQ is uglier and its better looking than the whole of Kirkby.

Me too, but I am too sad to realise I am sad, I love the RSA. I bet within just 10 years it will be considered fantastic by 95.6% of the population, and that within 20 years people will be slagging off the old-fashioned Unity building for throwing its untrendy shadow over the glorious RSA.

one day RSA will be a treasure* and be converted into a hotel and Luxury apartments~


*you all know its going to happen

~ maybe an over statment

Me too, but I am too sad to realise I am sad, I love the RSA. I bet within just 10 years it will be considered fantastic by 95.6% of the population, and that within 20 years people will be slagging off the old-fashioned Unity building for throwing its untrendy shadow over the glorious RSA.

im not that sad

you beat me to it!!!

I can only wonder what form buildings will take in the Future?

ive just posted a pic of unity taken last sunday on the demolition row Forum

and one from Princess dock Car park looking toward unity

the snadcastle is great long may it be there

the police Hq always seems to stand out like a MULTI-STORY car park in Lake district or a young person in southport (even sadder i liked steershouse and canning place)


Now that is more than sad. :cheers:

:puke: Please! No more pics of that! :puke:
LOL!
Mark, slap a bit of make up on her, have a few bevvies and the ARS building looks a bit better when the lights go down :)

http://www.**************************/ars.jpg

The RSA is impressive, yet sometimes can look ugly.

The base level on the Strand could do with improvement, the traffic speeding along, and the closeness of RSA to the road make the pavement hostile territory.


http://www.123lcc.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/post/zRSA99.JPG

RSA is a brutalist meets 1930s NYC wedding cake masterpiece, but aesthetically and skyline wise is a blight. It could be a prison or a factory in Eastern Europe! So unforgiving and brutally ugly, yet still, probably worthy of preservation due to its uniqueness.

Dave, you take some stunning photos, ever considered entering some of them in the UK Urban Photo Contest? (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=554) I think alot of your images would do well or win!

its a bloody disgrace

It's different. :cheers:

At night, it looks like a big block of cinder toffee.

http://www.fosterschocolate.com/acatalog/honeycomb.gif

How long have the Echo had a roof garden? :?

RSA is a brutalist meets 1930s NYC wedding cake masterpiece, but aesthetically and skyline wise is a blight. It could be a prison or a factory in Eastern Europe! So unforgiving and brutally ugly, yet still, probably worthy of preservation due to its uniqueness.

Dave, you take some stunning photos, ever considered entering some of them in the UK Urban Photo Contest? (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=554) I think alot of your images would do well or win!

Thanks CAW. I'll try and send a few in the near future :cheers:

How long have the Echo had a roof garden? :?
The glass structure is part of the atrium between the DP&Echo and the Royal Sun Alliance building.

The RSA is impressive, yet sometimes can look ugly.

The base level on the Strand could do with improvement, the traffic speeding along, and the closeness of RSA to the road make the pavement hostile territory.


http://www.123lcc.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/post/zRSA99.JPG


Aaah, I can remember when I first joined this forum- my first post was about how much I hated the RSA building. But it has steadily grown on me since. In a certain light it can look very impressive. It looks better when the windows are more visible- this makes it look less monolithic. It is a superb example of modernist architecture.

I know what you mean Juxta, that path way is horrible. Walking alongside a motorway, cars hurling towards you and no barrier for protection :bash:

I think this building, and the area to some extent illustrates one of the things Poli is always banging on about- Planners in the 1960s/70s designed cities for the car user and, frankly, didn't give a shit about pedestrians. RSA for example has its own built-in car park- it was designed so that staff could drive through Lpool on a futuristic road system, park up, get out, do work, return to car and drive home. All around RSA the street scape is quite horrible from a pedestrian point of view. Hopefully Unity et al. will change this.

That pic shows the roof garden on the left. :)

Said it before, saying it now, will say it again, I don't care, those blue RSA signs need to go. They are a bad idea. They look fucking awful. They remind me of a "Wash at 40c. Made in China" sign inside a shirt - the idea is that the sign is inside, not outside.

didn't the signs used to be red

the logo is shit

How do they market themselves as a company without the sings
you come up with a better solution and ill send it off
Big compaines listen to kids

thanks

The Old Hall Street frontage to RSA has improved remarkably since the removal of the two pedestrian footbridges and the construction of the glazed atrium. The Leeds Street frontage faces onto the route of the Inner Motorway and was never intended as a street frontage.

However, with West Tower about to appear, there may be a case for making the area more pedestrian friendly.

That pic shows the roof garden on the left. :)The RSA should have grassed gardens on all its flat parts, notice the nice cafeteria area on the RSA, where they can all perv down onto the Echo workers tanning themselves on the grass. :)

I take it you work at the RSA, or are at least planning to? ;)

The Old Hall Street frontage to RSA has improved remarkably since the removal of the two pedestrian footbridges and the construction of the glazed atrium. The Leeds Street frontage faces onto the route of the Inner Motorway and was never intended as a street frontage.

However, with West Tower about to appear, there may be a case for making the area more pedestrian friendly.


All the footbridges built were an eyesore. :cheers:

why would west tower affect the RSA

i think that the should clean every building over 20 years of age and put scafolding up with Capital of culture logo on the front
(including RLB)

why would west tower affect the RSA



It wouldn't affect RSA but as it will be sited slap bang on Leeds Street, it might be an idea to improve pedestrian access along that street and also across it. Might even allow RSA to develop an active frontage (entrance, shops etc onto Leeds Street).

Princes Dock is still very isolated and some form of pedestrian crossing is needed, probably on the line of the whale bridge across the dock. I know that means cutting a hole in the old dock wall but I'm sure that can be done sensitively without compromising the appearance or historical value. It was only built to stop scallies nicking ships cargoes anyway.

It was only built to stop scallies nicking ships cargoes anyway.
It was built to protect the riches, looted from a far flung empire, from those whose blood and toil built the empire, "Scallies" as you call them. The few who stole the wealth of nations wanted to keep it all to themselves and away from the hungry hands and mouths of the vast majority of the populace. We tend to forget that part of it.

I was built to protect the riches, looted from a far flung empire, from those whose blood and toil built the empire, "Scallies" as you call them. The few who stole the wealth of nations wanted to keep it all to themselves and away from the hungry hands and mouths of the vast majority of the populace. We tend to forget that part of it.

I'm sure there is a lot of truth in what you say Sloyne but theft has never been a just or efficient means of redistributing wealth. I'm sure that many of those who would have stolen from ships would also have stolen from those hungry people as well.

Sloyne, you're claiming to be built and not created from an act of love?

That's some statement.

Alastair Darling was the product of an act of love. Give me custom built Canadians any time.

Sloyne, you're claiming to be built and not created from an act of love?
I've edited the text. Thank you.

Alastair Darling was the product of an act of love. Give me custom built Canadians any time.
From one, I assume, who has never made an error, spelling or otherwise. This forum is becoming quite like the Manchester one.

Sloyne, you're claiming to be built and not created from an act of love?

That's some statement.
Maybe i'm stupid or something but, are you serious that you didn't know it was a spelling error?????????????

From one, I assume, has never made an error, spelling or otherwise. This forum is becoming quite like the Manchester one.

Patrick, it was just a bit of a Scouse pisstake :bash:
You made an interesting point. You also made a typo error like we all have in the past and the piss was taken out of you. Live with it like we all do :)

Maybe i'm stupid or something but, are you serious that you didn't know it was a spelling error?????????????

Just a pisstake Pat. Please move on.

Just a pisstake Pat. Please move on.
Then I apologise.

hehehe I knew the score Sloyne, but it made me laugh given the context.

hehehe I knew the score Sloyne, but it made me laugh given the context.
Understandably :)

Sorry Sloyne, I just got this image of you being constructed to way lay the starvng urchins from stealing the sugar and bananas.

Commercial block

http://img200.echo.cx/img200/5179/unity232ae.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)


http://img200.echo.cx/img200/3882/unity247mo.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)


http://img233.echo.cx/img233/3298/unity253gf.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

Residential block
http://img233.echo.cx/img233/8561/unity264mm.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

I think the external cladding will be fitted on this facade soon.

http://img233.echo.cx/img233/5889/unity274ox.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)


http://img233.echo.cx/img233/9367/unity281ki.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

Sloyne i enjoy spellin things wrong its my dirty little habit

Unity is certainly looking different since the last time I was down that part of the village. Good pictures.

:)

above the brown wooden planks is the 12th floor. 13 floors to go plus the 2 floor penthouses(portakabin), it looking big now. it's not even half done!!! :cheers:

Thanks for the Unity update Doug. I can't believe how much it has come along since I last looked. Can't wait to see the cladding.

Liverpool to Dublin Irish Sea Express with Unity in the background.

http://www.123lcc.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/post/zirishunity.JPG

A couple more of Unity taken from the Mersey Ferry

http://www.123lcc.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/post/zunity5.JPG

http://www.123lcc.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/post/zUnity from ferry.JPG

The shadow of the crane imprinted on Unity was intentional, eh Juxt? :) :cheers:
CLASS

Liverpool to Dublin Irish Sea Express with Unity in the background.

Juxt, I want you to go to that excact spot in 3 years time and take a picture :lol:

Fantastic picture! :)

The shadow of the crane imprinted on Unity was intentional, eh Juxt? :) :cheers:
CLASS
eerm....N....erm...Yes...yes it was. :)

Just luck really, but noticed it out of several pics and thought that looks good.

Has the core for the office building has reached it's final height? Where is the core for the resi? :?

eerm....N....erm...Yes...yes it was. :)

Just luck really, but noticed it out of several pics and thought that looks good.

Great pics, and refreshing after all the recent Scouse/Manc "who's got the biggest cock?" posts

Great pics, and refreshing after all the recent Scouse/Manc "who's got the biggest cock?" posts

I agree, no one can win those arguments, so i mostly stay out, or post a single humerous reply. I prefer to post on the developments and attractions of Liverpool, which hopefully are of interest or surprise to any forumers.

Doug & Juxtapol, great progress pics guys, it sure is moving skywards now. the resi tower appears to be growing without the usual service core, not seen that before?

. I prefer to post on the developments and attractions of Liverpool, which hopefully are of interest or surprise to any forumers.

:yes: :applause:

Jux that second pic of the Liver building is stunning mate

Please forgive my ignorance but whats that church called next door ,the one with the scaffold on it?

Jux that second pic of the Liver building is stunning mate

Please forgive my ignorance but whats that church called next door ,the one with the scaffold on it?
i know its really old its got carvings of pictures from the slave trade on it i might be wrong but i think it was built for the slaves ill check it up.

Jux that second pic of the Liver building is stunning mate

Please forgive my ignorance but whats that church called next door ,the one with the scaffold on it? saint nicholas church built in 1360 bombed in 1940 and partially rebuilt it was a sailors church where slaves prayed also.

Jux that second pic of the Liver building is stunning mate

Please forgive my ignorance but whats that church called next door ,the one with the scaffold on it?

The parish church of Our Lady and St Nicholas, more commonly known as St Nick's or the Sailors' Church. It is the parish church of Liverpool, built originally in the C14th as a chapel of ease of the parish church of Walton on the Hill, the parish of which Liverpool was then a part of. The building has been rebuilt more than once and extensively altered over the years.

cheers lads

The tower fell off a while back (1800's?) and killed 60-odd schoolgirls on their way to Sunday School too.

A few pics of St Nicks, taken a few years ago :cheers:

http://www.**************************/stnicholas/images/stnicholas005.jpg

http://www.**************************/stnicholas/images/stnicholas006.jpg

http://www.**************************/stnicholas/images/stnicholas004.jpg

http://www.**************************/stnicholas/images/stnicholas008.jpg

http://www.**************************/stnicholas/images/stnicholas003.jpg

great pics there dave and a great church and history here was me thinking it it was in the way of unity there.

Cheers Dave, little gem that is :)

Commercial block

http://img200.echo.cx/img200/5179/unity232ae.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)


Jesus that tiny core looks like it'll come down in the wind!

Thanks for the photos Doug, Juxta.

it looks like the doka at the top of unity has come down.

yep it has, on one of the latest pics in the PSDA thread you can see the core sbove one of the buildings and it looks like the Princes dock ones did all along

it looks like the doka at the top of unity has come down.

DOKA is a company, their construction platforms are different to the ones on unity. In other words its not a DOKA, just a normal platform. ;)

DOKA is a company, their construction platforms are different to the ones on unity. In other words its not a DOKA, just a normal platform. ;)

The jumping form used on the Unity office cores is very similar to the one used on Holloway Circus, which I think is a design produced by Laing O'Rourke and incorporates hydraulic lifting mechanisms. It is very different form the system used on Liverpool Beetham 1, which had to be dismantled, lifted by crane and reassembled for each lift.

The tower fell off a while back (1800's?) and killed 60-odd schoolgirls on their way to Sunday School too.

I heard an account that was written by an eye-witness and read out on Radio Merseyside a few weeks ago.

The girls were from the Moorfields Charity School who were attending a service in the church. The church authorities knew that the tower was showing signs of instability and had instructed the bell ringers to stop ringing peels of bells. The bell ringers ignored this instruction and continued ringing with the result that the tower collapsed right into the knave of the church, killing and seriously injuring the girls.

Although this happened back in 1812, it was still a very harrowing story with accounts of the parents of the girls desperately trying to rescue their children from the ruins of the church and bringing the dead and injured out into the churchyard.

In 1941, the knave of the church was destroyed by bombing so the building has been completely rebuilt over the last two centuries.

HOW LONG HAS UNITY BEEN GETTING BUIT ????????????????
It seems ages

HOW LONG HAS UNITY BEEN GETTING BUIT ????????????????
It seems ages
summer 2004 they started i think i thought the same its takeing ages but it is a big project but i wish they would hurry up.

Why is it SO LLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGG (Long) as they have Built the Muilt-story Car Park an City Lofts

Because they're both smaller and also in a more open area which should make construction more convenient than Unity's situation.

Like Woody's said on a number of occassions, Unity's much larger than we all tend to think.

Because they're both smaller and also in a more open area which should make construction more convenient than Unity's situation.

Like Woody's said on a number of occassions, Unity's much larger than we all tend to think.

Gareth you're right there mate. I was down at Unity last week. I was very surprised at the size of the building, not so much in terms of height but width. Its huge!

The jumping form used on the Unity office cores is very similar to the one used on Holloway Circus, which I think is a design produced by Laing O'Rourke and incorporates hydraulic lifting mechanisms. It is very different form the system used on Liverpool Beetham 1, which had to be dismantled, lifted by crane and reassembled for each lift.

Yeah these jumping slip formers do speed up construction. Sounds odd that they dismantled and reassembled the former on Beetham 1, very inefficient.

i walked out of lime street station this morning to go and watch war of the worlds and wwalking down the steps realy dows give a good view of unity beetham and b2 when it starts construction

i walked out of lime street station this morning to go and watch war of the worlds and wwalking down the steps realy dows give a good view of unity beetham and b2 when it starts construction

There's quite a good view from the top of the precinct stairs in Queen's Square.

A rather dull sequence of tripod-free shots taken (in a hurry!) this evening at Seacombe -

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/8381/unitywidea8ir.jpg

http://img158.echo.cx/img158/755/unity1a7am.jpg

http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/460/unityclosea1mz.jpg


A brighter crane shot from Friday -

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/7206/unitysky8ws.jpg

Nighttime Unity from Woodside, 12 July.

http://img348.imageshack.us/img348/1823/unity8004rh.jpg

Beautiful pic, cheers MO. Can't wait to get a decent camera so my night time shots look that good.

what camera is that taken with merseyorange wonderful qaulity.

RSA looks... er, brill at night :| golden block of joy, lol.. Cool pic

just been on unityliving.co.uk and the comercial tower i only 59.5m high. 17 floors multiplyed by 3.5m each floor inc. between each floor

what camera is that taken with merseyorange wonderful qaulity.It's one of those newfangled digital ones, Tommy. :)

wow what an age we live in

thanks
LiverOdysea
___________________

18th June 2005 - Celebrating 1 year of Odysea

Great pic MO.

I'm liking Unity more after seeing some of those pictures on www.unityliverpool.co.uk. The night one looks good more reflective and glazed than I though it would be.

Yeah I like it as well. :)

HOW LONG HAS UNITY BEEN GETTING BUIT ????????????????
It seems ages

Almost exactly a year. Foundation work started mid-July 2004. However work on the site had been going on since the end of 2003 with the demolition of Richmond House.

In fact, we have been talking about this project practically since SSC started as demolition of Richmond House was programmed initially for the end of 2002.

Considering the size of the project, work hasn't been going on that long. Beetham started back in November 2001 and wasn't completed until early last year. In fact, the main tower was only up to 12 storeys by the end of 2002 (I remember that as they strung Christmas lights on the top of the tower).

just been on unityliving.co.uk and the comercial tower i only 59.5m high. 17 floors multiplyed by 3.5m each floor inc. between each floor

Thats very dissapionting. I hope the main tower will have good size floors otherwise it wont make much impression on the skyline - a bit like the atlantic tower hotel with its poxy narrow floors.

60m is almost 200ft, still quite tall!

Is it me or has the box at the top been sqaured off, im sure it used to be tapered?

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/229/unity8zo.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

Does it actually say 59.5m on the unity site?

I don't think it does. A height of 65-70m looks more likely.

Those floors do look narrow on the pictures.

it doesnt say 59.5 to the top. it does say 16 stories plus the reception is double the size. each floor is 3.5m inluding between the floor boards. the main tower will be 90m+ because it has to be at least 270ft but the floors will be higher than 10ft. don't worry, its not even half done and look at it!!

The office tower really 60m? It looks much taller than that!

Took this from Thurstaston through a mid-June heat haze. Can't think that the office core rose too much higher before it topped out. One storey maximum perhaps? How much lower is the ground level of Unity compared to say, City Tower? And how pathetic does City Lofts appear on that, eh? Winter Hill transmitter looks pretty good though, better than Arrowe Park hospital - just goes to show you don't need a skyscraper to ruin a view...

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/1737/unitypano300a9mk.jpg

Took this from Thurstaston through a mid-June heat haze. Can't think that the office core rose too much higher before it topped out. One storey maximum perhaps? How much lower is the ground level of Unity compared to say, City Tower? And how pathetic does City Lofts appear on that, eh? Winter Hill transmitter looks pretty good though, better than Arrowe Park hospital - just goes to show you don't need a skyscraper to ruin a view...

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/1737/unitypano300a9mk.jpg

Fascinating photo MO :cheers:

3X zoom my arse! That'd look great at night with Everton waterworks lit up too. :)

3X zoom my arse! That'd look great at night with Everton waterworks lit up too. :)206-612mm. 3x zoom. :)

So it's a telescope with a camera on the end then? :D

No, it's not a telescope Bunny, but you can certainly find some interesting things with it :). Looking forward to some clear skies this winter anyway. And some urgently needed photography lessons too.

http://img350.imageshack.us/img350/8163/goodison38vk.jpg

Office service core now at full height, I reckon residential is about the half way mark.

http://img316.imageshack.us/img316/2743/unity293yw.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)


http://img316.imageshack.us/img316/1492/unity305cy.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)


http://img316.imageshack.us/img316/5637/unity326pp.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)


http://img316.imageshack.us/img316/4288/unity346fd.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

Here are some recent images, good to see the forums back up and running guys!!!

http://onfinite.com/libraries/538945/5d8.jpg

Fantastic photos here guys! Looks like the Unity office tower has just another four mikes to go before it gets to the setback level, which you can see from the height of the service core in front. The main residential tower has just about reached half way height. I doubt Unity will make that much of an impression on the skyline but it will certainly dominate Chapel Street.

Unity rents poised to break £20 sq ft barrier Jul 18 2005

By Tony McDonough, Daily Post

THE development director for a £60m office and apartments scheme in Liverpool insists there is enough interest in the commercial space to push the price per sq ft beyond £20.

The Daily Post reported this week that a survey carried out by King Sturge had found that the value of office accommodation in Liverpool was lagging behind other cities in the UK.

The highest rental for office space achieved so far in the city is £16.50 per sq ft but Mike Stares, development director of Rumford Investments which is behind the Unity scheme, is confident he can push the figure through the £20 per sq ft barrier.

Unity, currently being built in Chapel Street near the waterfront, will provide 150,000 sq ft of grade A office accommodation, 9,000 sq ft of ground floor retail space and 161 apartments.

Mr Stares said: "Aside from Unity's 27 storeys of residential apartments, the scheme also houses the largest speculatively built grade A office development currently under construction outside of London. It may surprise some that we took the decision to bring the scheme here.

"Though we have long been aware of the city's position in the league table of property asking prices, we continue to be surprised as we have always maintained that Liverpool offers a fantastic opportunity for investment."

There had been interest in the commercial space at Unity from both firms within the city looking to move and from companies both in London and other parts of the UK and abroad and that it had come primarily from the professional and financial services sectors. "The £20 per sq ft letting price has been well received by enquirers, and agents are very confident of achieving this mark.

"Once a building achieves over £20 per sq ft, it becomes self-sustainable and this offers great prospects for future development in the city."

Work on Unity, which has benefited from £5m of European Regional Development Funding, began last October and the project is due to be finished next year.

Good progress. Is there any particular reason why the office block is being built a floorplate at a time and the residential is being built cores ahead?

Took this from Thurstaston through a mid-June heat haze. Can't think that the office core rose too much higher before it topped out. One storey maximum perhaps? How much lower is the ground level of Unity compared to say, City Tower? And how pathetic does City Lofts appear on that, eh? Winter Hill transmitter looks pretty good though, better than Arrowe Park hospital - just goes to show you don't need a skyscraper to ruin a view...

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/1737/unitypano300a9mk.jpg

Great shot, you don't happen to have photos of the cathedrals from here do you? I reckon you would see Manc if you panned right a bit more. :cheers:

Good progress. Is there any particular reason why the office block is being built a floorplate at a time and the residential is being built cores ahead?

It's the other way round caw. The office tower is on the right in Scouseyuppie's photo and the cores have been built to full height with the floor plates just to seventh level at the moment.

The residential tower is now to the fourteenth level and has a cellular construction with reinforced concrete floors and walls and no cores. I think there are two reasons for this.

One is that the rigid structure of the residential tower doesn't need a core for stability and the other is that the occupancy of the residential tower will be far less than the office tower so fewer lifts and stairs are required. (With 160 apartments, population is likely to be around 200 whilst the 100,000 sq ft of the office tower should have a daytime population of around 1,000).

In the residential tower, stairs and lifts are located in cut outs in the floor slabs and added as the building goes up.

Residential block is now about 16/17 mikes

http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/1228/unity355cp.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/2600/unity365fv.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/4784/unity376xn.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/8607/unity384ji.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Doug, as usual great progress pics, cheers

Ta Woody, I tried counting the mikes on the residential tower when I was up on the viewing area at the back of the Atlantic Tower hotel, but its a bit confusing with all scaffold in the way on the lower mikes.

Great photos Doug! Reminds me I need to update the construction gallery.

By the way, if you look where the office tower abuts the residential link block, you will see that the mike height for the latter is considerably less. I think that it works out at about six and a half residential mikes to five office mikes. Only to be expected as office floor to ceiling heights tend to be higher plus the need for computer floors and false ceilings.

I think that means that the residential tower will be the equivalent of 23 office tower mikes or 6 mikes taller.

Martin, I've just checked that on picture 4, your'e right on there!! well spotted I never noticed that.

Ta Woody, I tried counting the mikes on the residential tower when I was up on the viewing area at the back of the Atlantic Tower hotel, but its a bit confusing with all scaffold in the way on the lower mikes.

Doug, any thoughts on the unusual cladding panels that are now being installed ? Like, bloody hell they look crap or wow this tower will be superb :)

Unless they have done something new in the last few days, the cladding panels so far installed are just the steel backing frames with insulation covered in tin foil. They must be going to fit a front panel at a later date and it will be interesting to see what this consists of.

Unless they have done something new in the last few days, the cladding panels so far installed are just the steel backing frames with insulation covered in tin foil. They must be going to fit a front panel at a later date and it will be interesting to see what this consists of.

Thanks for info Martin, I havn`t seen the site for a while and have relied on Doug`s excellent photos to keep me in touch with progress . I thought those panels looked unusual, and now I know why, Cheers

Great photos Doug! Reminds me I need to update the construction gallery.

By the way, if you look where the office tower abuts the residential link block, you will see that the mike height for the latter is considerably less. I think that it works out at about six and a half residential mikes to five office mikes. Only to be expected as office floor to ceiling heights tend to be higher plus the need for computer floors and false ceilings.

I think that means that the residential tower will be the equivalent of 23 office tower mikes or 6 mikes taller.
well if you think about it one canada square in canary wharf is 50 stories tall yet at 225 meters would totally dwarf the 40 storey west tower, office buildings need much less floors to make an impact than resdiential buildings do

well if you think about it one canada square in canary wharf is 50 stories tall yet at 225 meters would totally dwarf the 40 storey west tower, office buildings need much less floors to make an impact than resdiential buildings do

True Maggie. Last year I had to catch a bus from just under the Canada Square tower. It is a sobering thought that this tower is only slightly taller than the World Financial Centre by the same architect, Cesar Pelli, which was completely dwarfed by the World Trade Center towers

The average floor height for office is 4.2m compared to 3.2m for residential.

yeah i didnt know what it was in meters but i do know that its usually 16ft for office and 10ft for residential, which is true of one canada square (50 storeys/800ft) and beetham tower (30 storeys/300ft) tho some more expensive resdiential developments can have larger ceiling height but are rarely more than 20 storeys in these cases,

world trade centre was about 100/110 storeys wasnt it? double the height of one canada sq, which itself wont be the u.k's tallest for much longer with lbt already accepted and difa tower likely to be accepted both taller than 300m mind you 1csq has clung onto its title for 14 years now its bout time something overtook it

I'm really looking forward to the London Bridge tower going ahead. It will be a really beautiful building - far better I think than New York's 'Freedom Tower'.

plus it bears a strong similarity to the liverpool gateway tower in some respects, its replacing a hideous brown 70s tower, and developers will be investing improvement works in london bridge national rail and underground stations which was part of the conditions under which it was accepted, pretty similar to gateway which is also part of a wider development, tho lbt being a 1.2bn investment is going to take a little longer before it gets going as they cant start demolishing the existing office building until tenants move out next summer

Unity today, with a few more michaels to go.
http://www.123lcc.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/post/zunity777.JPG

http://www.123lcc.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/post/zunitymemorial.JPG

whats the current state on this how many floors are they up too? and does anyone know what the fence is for i asked the other day but got no reply.

Unity is going to be 10 metres taller than Beetham according to skyscrapernews. Is this right? Can't see it myself, but heres hoping. :cheers:

does anyone know what the fence is for i asked the other day but got no reply.

I am guessing here, but that fence will most likely be forming the "back stage area" for the Pier Head principle stage for the Mathew Street Festival next week end.

JUXTAPOL, great pics and nice shot of the TITANIC memorial which is looking good with the planting giving this rather bleak area some colour. :)

View of Unity today with about ten mikes completed on the office tower:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/Martin_S/Unity/290805.jpg

only another 7 floors to go on the office tower then

the Residential tower is about 2 residential flors off the height of the office core

i have no idea how tall unity will be because i have no idea which design they ended up going with! people should see it has 'estimate' marked next to the height.

I was actually on the site last Wednesday whilst on a short tour around the city centre just clocking as many of the newbuild/redevelopments projects (which included The Albany and Exchange Flags buildings) and this is a brief excerpt (in the form of an approximate transcription) of the interesting conversation I had with one of the construction staff that were carrying out the contract:

Me: "Don't mind me saying this mate, but that is one hell of an ugly building that is going up there."

Construction Representative: [laughing in acknowledgement] "Isn't it just? I mean, what are they thinking, coming up with something like that? There's no accounting for architectural worth now is there?"

Me: "It actually looks like we're entering a new phase of post-modern brutalism with all these ugly towers! That thing looks scarily like the rejected tower part for that fourth grace monstrosity!"

CR: "You know - funny you should mention that, cos I was thinking the same thing too. In fact, Laing are behind this one too - they pulled out of the Fourth Grace thing, you remember....the cost of that thing just spiralled out of control..."

Me: "....and for that we should all be thankful of course....that thing was just an abomination. Thank god it's not getting built."

CR: "I know....like I said....there's no accounting for taste. All these newbuild structures are just so ugly they already look dated before they're completed. We're just putting the thing up of course, but that's not to say I'm in agreement with what exactly goes up where. There are so many wonderful buildings here in Liverpool and yet they want to spoil the skyline with towers like this one. You really do wonder sometimes."

Me: "I know - I've just been talking to a rep at the Albany over the road there and they've made a good job keeping the outer shell of the building intact - well, considering it's a Grade II* listed building any rate. I used to work there too - back in 1988. They're planning to have the whole thing complete by the new year...."

CR: "These modern residential developments though - it's all this isn't it?" (makes that "money money money" gesture by rubbing his fingers together). "They're springing up everywhere! I really can't see the wisdom of all these £2 million penthouses for all these rich types to show how flash they are. What's the big deal? At the end of the day it's only somewhere to live.....the obscene money some of these now fetch makes you wonder sometimes. They have more money than sense!"

Me: "Yeah....true.....I mean, Michael Owen has a million pound penthouse on the 28th floor of the Beetham Tower over there.... At least they [Beetham] got it right though, by positioning their latest one at one end of the Pier Head waterfront.....the fact it is where it is complements the skyline in my opinion. But this thing going up here just swamps everything - I mean, look behind us - we have the Royal Insurance building - the bloody sandcastle -there was an outcry when THAT was built back in the late 70s, remember?! It's still bloody ugly looking at it now!! Me sister used to work there for a bit as well back in the day! And here we're going to have the modern equivalent just in front of it looming right behind the old Atlantic Tower Thistle hotel!!"

CR: "Oh aye...too right!"

Me: "So how tall is this one going to be then? Is the core to its full height yet?"

CR: "Well it's a mixed use building - there's the usual apartments at this end here in front of where we are standing, but that thin core there is the lift service shaft for the offices section. That's taller than the main residential bit actually. There's still a bit further to go on that one...The car park is all underground - four storeys of it!"

Me: "So when's the targeted completion date?"

CR: "Summer 2007 apparently..... a year to go. Mind you, the speed at which so many of these are springing up - most of the penthouses and apartments for this one have already been snapped up - and they're not even built yet! That's what I was getting at - these people haven't even seen what the final thing looks like apart from an artist's impression on a diagram or brochure and they've already put down deposits for them - mad, I tell you!"

:)

CR: "Summer 2007 apparently..... a year to go.
Thats 2 years, isn't it.

Anyway i would say this building can't be as bad as the building it replaced, (Brown concrete 70s Richmond Place), and at least they havent knocked down a quality listed building in order to build it.

CR: "These modern residential developments though - it's all this isn't it?" (makes that "money money money" gesture by rubbing his fingers together). "They're springing up everywhere! I really can't see the wisdom of all these £2 million penthouses for all these rich types to show how flash they are. What's the big deal? At the end of the day it's only somewhere to live.....the obscene money some of these now fetch makes you wonder sometimes. They have more money than sense!"

None of the above has to make sense, a rich man is the same as a poor man, but with more money, so can buy more/bigger. The rich man is not going to rent a house on a council estate, so the demand is there for these tower development's, same as there is a demand for council/subsidised housing. Where does the "CR" live..! and where is the sense in where he lives, the developer of his house did so to make a profit also.

He's not a friggin' ambassador for change and development you know!! He's only one of the construction guys! His opinion is precisely that - his! No need to analyse his words quite THAT literally mate! ;)

He's not a friggin' ambassador for change and development you know!! He's only one of the construction guys! His opinion is precisely that - his! No need to analyse his words quite THAT literally mate! ;)
I know, i do go on a bit. :nuts:

The view from the pier head is looking good now with Unity rising above the Atlantic Tower Hotel. Let's hope it looks good when fully clad.

martin mind if i run that on skyscrapernews word for word. its utter class :) i really dont like how unity is turning out at all. heh.

martin mind if i run that on skyscrapernews word for word. its utter class :) i really dont like how unity is turning out at all. heh.

"word for word"
LOL!

yeah i know :) its class dave. pissed myself laughing at it.

yeah i know :) its class dave. pissed myself laughing at it.

Whilst I was laughing at you :cheers:

Dont know if this is old news or not but the cladding on the unity building will actualy be multi coloured not black and white as shown in renders. It was certainly news to me when a friend of mine who works as an engineer on site told me his planning books shows where the different colours of the cladding will go. I told him i thought unity will be black and white only but he said the cladding will be green ,brown, yellow, red, blue and purple etc and he thinks the building will be an eyesaw.

As i said it may be old news for you but it was a shock for me.

:badnews:

Dont know if this is old news or not but the cladding on the unity building will actualy be multi coloured not black and white as shown in renders. It was certainly news to me when a friend of mine who works as an engineer on site told me his planning books shows where the different colours of the cladding will go. I told him i thought unity will be black and white only but he said the cladding will be green ,brown, yellow, red, blue and purple etc and he thinks the building will be an eyesaw.

As i said it may be old news for you but it was a shock for me.

Are you sure he was a construction worker, or just a fruity loop's who accidently gained acces with a yellow flourescent vest. :)

Would be interesting to see what this looks like if it is rainbow coloured. :puke:

I'm sure I've sen a rendering with different colours on it somewhere. The main cladding is black and white, but the balconies are in different pastel colours. It's quite subtle but not to my taste really.

We'll soon find out, odd panes of glass are going in and the super structure looks ready to take the facsia soon.

Hehe, 'played Scouse Dave.

I'm sorry but it just seems to me like a knee jerk reaction to anything new or different from 'traditional' building design. The same comments - monstrosity, eyesore, ugly etc, etc.

It's the mentality that has given us mock Georgian Barratt houses with plastic porticos.

Unity is far from completed so it is not possible to make a reasonable judgement of its impact on the townscape. Give it a chance.

I'm sorry but it just seems to me like a knee jerk reaction to anything new or different from 'traditional' building design. The same comments - monstrosity, eyesore, ugly etc, etc.

It's the mentality that has given us mock Georgian Barratt houses with plastic porticos.

Unity is far from completed so it is not possible to make a reasonable judgement of its impact on the townscape. Give it a chance.

With you on this one Martin , how many times have we said "forget what the renderings look like, wait till we have the finished product". Both City Towers and the Princes Dock MSCP were savaged by many on this forum when only renders in the Echo were available. Today as one is completed and the other almost we have an attractive :) MSCP and two towers that are probably the best looking buildings erected in this city for many a year.

Just because Unity dares to be different with a cladding design ( that I have yet to see) and we read a couple of critical comments by those porporting to building this development, it should not lead to a mad scramble to jump on the band wagon, wait until it completed ,then make your comments , I will comment then.

yup. i dont like the massing of the buildings but every image just about has shown it differently to the last one - its hard to know what we're getting so its also a bit hard to diss them.

Totally agree Woody.

I'm still pretty sad that we lost the Fourth Grace. It takes great courage to build a building like that and these unusual buildings almost always demonstrate their worth in the end. Just think of the Bilbao Guggenheim, the Sydney Opera House or our own Metropolitan Cathedral.

People are now beginning to see the RSA in a new light (literally) as the night-time floodlighting gives it a massiveness worthy of New York. The Thistle Hotel was described as a monstrosity when people saw the first renderings but is now seen as one of Liverpool's best buildings of the 60s.

In the case of Unity, I am sure that people will start complaining as the office tower climbs above the level of St Nicholas's Church but I think it will improve the setting. As the church is surrounded by the city it serves, it resembles Trinity Church in Downtown Manhattan - once the tallest building in the city but now overshadowed by the skyscrapers that have grown up alongside it.

the problem with classic buildings is they are so hard to design. we cant just come up with them because we dont know what taste will be like at some point in the future. you do have to be brave, and all the buildings youve mentioned martin are brave. unfortunately for every brave building there is thats considered a classic there are 10 bad ones. compare RSA to mondial house or tower bridge thistle in london to see what i mean. designing a brave building that becomes a loved icon is risky at best and who wants to take risks when the majority of the time what you end up with when looking back with architectural hindsight you want to demolish. i agree with what you say that a tower will compliment the setting of a church, but the question is 'is this THE tower to do it'. we cant really answer this question now but i would much rather architects took safer decisions if it means the wasteful process of knocking down crap every 25 to 30 years that someone hoped would be cool because its seems there is a fine line between an eyesore and a beauty. one thing youve said i do disagree with martin is that comparison between the rsa and say sydney opera house. sydney opera house, and the other buildings you mentioned, just about stand on their own, there's nothing really of note around them. rsa works because of the context it finds itself in because it fits perfect in with the waterfront and surrounding buildings. unity can be a bad building and still manage to do this well making us forgive its shortcomings in other departments. i think we just have to wait and see over time whether this works, or not.

the problem with classic buildings is they are so hard to design. we cant just come up with them because we dont know what taste will be like at some point in the future. you do have to be brave, and all the buildings youve mentioned martin are brave. unfortunately for every brave building there is thats considered a classic there are 10 bad ones. compare RSA to mondial house or tower bridge thistle in london to see what i mean. designing a brave building that becomes a loved icon is risky at best and who wants to take risks when the majority of the time what you end up with when looking back with architectural hindsight you want to demolish. i agree with what you say that a tower will compliment the setting of a church, but the question is 'is this THE tower to do it'. we cant really answer this question now but i would much rather architects took safer decisions if it means the wasteful process of knocking down crap every 25 to 30 years that someone hoped would be cool because its seems there is a fine line between an eyesore and a beauty. one thing youve said i do disagree with martin is that comparison between the rsa and say sydney opera house. sydney opera house, and the other buildings you mentioned, just about stand on their own, there's nothing really of note around them. rsa works because of the context it finds itself in because it fits perfect in with the waterfront and surrounding buildings. unity can be a bad building and still manage to do this well making us forgive its shortcomings in other departments. i think we just have to wait and see over time whether this works, or not.

I agree that it is very difficult to design a classic building but I think we need to take risks occasionally. Unity is a very large building and it faces some very attractive buildings of different ages and styles in the vicinity. Perhaps the general opinion in twenty years time will be that it is an eyesore, who knows?

All the same, how many buildings are demolished simply because people find them unattractive? The building I live in is not particularly attractive but it serves the purpose I want and I don't see it when I'm inside anyway.

The problem that we seem to have in Liverpool, and probably in other cities, is that buildings are curtailed in height or faced in red brick to make them more 'in keeping' with buildings in the area.

A good example of this is the Crowne Plaza hotel on Princes Dock, not far from Unity and adjacent to the Liver Building. It is only five years old but already there is talk of it being demolished. The reason is that the Princes Dock development has taken off to the extent that the shortest buildings under construction now are eleven storeys compared to the Crown Plaza's five. It is just too small for the area and a wasteful use of the site.

Even ugly buildings serve a purpose in that they make us wonder what makes an attractive building. If I do nothing else in posting these comments, I would like Martin G etc to come out and tell us which modern buildings they like, what they should be building on the Unity site if Unity is such an eyesore.

Similar blank walls here in the LA region tend to end up with mega huge murals on them - I actually quite like them. Heres one I think is classy - maybe we could do pictures of the planning committee !

http://www.grconnect.com/murals/html/p1042155.html

The design they had for the big curtain they used to cover St Georges Hall would look great on the side of a large building imho.

They could do similar on some of the atrocities such as the 051 on Mount Pleasant and the Holiday Inn. They had one on Communtation Row for a while (it looked better than the awful Maritime Housing scheme there now)

By the way Martin S - that show flat I saw on a visit back to Liverpool must have been at least 2 years ago - shows you how long this scheme has been developing.

How about a campaign for large murals ?

Well, having looked at the renders, and what I've seen of the site, and judging a building that's not completed is of course rather unfair, but it's very, very ugly.

And dated.

Maybe when finished it'll be grand.

I think Unity will be Unique, a landmark building, i mean the WTC was not very nice looking yet still a Unique and iconic building known World Wide, i really do think we should be grateful that we are getting it as it will really add to the density of the area

I quite like the WTC, it's a cubeist p*ss take of the Liver Building, if only set at 90 degrees the wrong way, but you mean you'd rather have ugly buildings?

And I also suggest that the WTC is NOT known world Wide, but prove me wrong if you want.

I think Unity will be Unique, a landmark building, i mean the WTC was not very nice looking yet still a Unique and iconic building known World Wide, i really do think we should be grateful that we are getting it as it will really add to the density of the area

Yeah but there's the small matter of the WTCs being 415m tall..........

A lil dissimiliar in terms of one being the ambition to build frankly a city within 4 walls (well.. 8, or.. you know what I mean!) to build higher than anyone at the time and to say 'World, we our the city'..............Whereas Unity just so happens to be a mundane res/office development that just so happens to be taller than most things in its city at present..

I'm not sayin Unity is bad just... no need for this mantra of 'lets take what we're offered cos when NYC did it look where it got em' lol, besides.. WTC was timeless, n will remain timeless even though its not even there anymore.. well, it actually is because even though its not thought of much, its still in people's minds..

I'd hate to think we just take proposals and projects as if it were the January sales, its that attitude some decades ago that got us into the state we're in now.. and it took some half a century to get around to sortin it so... a few extra years of planning and designin is welcomed to be truthful.

Oopsie! When I wrote WTC above, I got it confused with the RSA Building, meaning my message made no sense what-so-ever!

Sorry, My-bad, as they say, apparently.

I wasn't a fan of WTC either. It was tall, but that's all there was to it.

Here is what she looked like today. The residential tower now up to 20 mikes and the office tower to 11 with the first two mike setback now completed.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/Martin_S/Unity/190909-MartinS.jpg

I wasn't a fan of WTC either. It was tall, but that's all there was to it.

The WTC was almost universally disliked when first built. Someone said that it looked as if the builder had kept on building until the architect decided on a way to finish off the towers. Others said that the towers looked like the boxes that the Empire State and Chrysler Building came in.

However, after 30 years, they had become an established part of the New York skyline and are now greatly missed.

Is there any cladding on Unity yet?

Is there any cladding on Unity yet?

The link residential block has had cladding for some time although the facing sheets have not been put on, so all you have is the exposed insulation. Work is now quite advanced on the office tower, which has grey panels with flush glazing.

Some cladding and windows fitted on the office tower.

http://img344.imageshack.us/img344/9039/unity392la.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img344.imageshack.us/img344/3784/unity401sc.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Thanks again Doug. You can see in your second photo that some of the balcony railings have been put on the link residential block.

Is that a protective cover on the panels or the actual colour as on the latest renderings the horizontal panels were white and the vertical panels were black?

Horizontal panels are finished colour, I think. Vertical panels don't appear to have been installed yet or they may have a protective cover on.

The vertical panels look white underneath. The bottom part of each one seems to have a bit of the cover peeled off.

Im not very good at making realistic impressions but if Unity was to stay the same shape for the remaining 7 floors then here is what the structure would be like, remmember it just a representation of the height it will be http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/5628/64kn.jpg

I think the 21st.22nd floor will be the set back for the resi tower

Hear'ed on the radio that some aluminium panels being lifted into place on Unity today, crashed to the pavement, no one was hurt.

It looks like one of the cranes was being jacked up today, it had the red section around the top, i'm not sure which crane it was though.

I have to say I like RSA.

When it was built in the 70`s `next to`the RLB - along with LDP&E and the `Metropolitan Tower (MCC - Merseyside County Council) and Atlantic Tower Hotel all of the same aguements raged.

The RSA has remained a `Corporate HQ` although there was provision for `shops in the sky linked by those now demolished walkways in the sky.`

Things would indeed have turned `full circle` if RSA finds some way to exploite all of those river terraces (so under used) - not to mention the LDP&E print hall roof garden.

`Metropolitan House` (MCC) [City Tower?] was also a `stunted redevelopment` not allowed to grow taller than the RLB.

Let`s keep RSA (one heck of a foot print for redevelopment.............) and press on with `Unity` and `Princes.`

Doug posted pictures of the new cladding on the office block on the last page. I went to see for myself today and I liked it, hopefully it won't be changed dramtically. These images are pretty much a carbon copy of what Doug posted, but I may as well throw them on....

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y135/yapachoo/Princes%20Dock/Europe%202005/Liverpool%20Construction%20October%202005/unitycladding0ct05.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y135/yapachoo/Princes%20Dock/Europe%202005/Liverpool%20Construction%20October%202005/unitycladding2oct05.jpg

and Unity from Pier Head

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y135/yapachoo/Princes%20Dock/Europe%202005/Liverpool%20Construction%20October%202005/pierheadoct05.jpg

Horrible day today! Lovely one minute but chucking down the next - NW'ly wind at a guess.

i dont see why the tallest crane needed to be hoisted eve higher, Unity only has another 7 floors to go doesn't it, if the cranes arm was put upright the crane would be over 500 feet tall

heres unity if it was just a rectangle block all the way to 100m, unity's supposed heighthttp://img207.imageshack.us/img207/4581/unity8wy.jpg

expect to see the set backs soon

View from the rear steps of the RLB yesterday:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/Martin_S/Unity/011005.jpg

and from Princes Dock:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/Martin_S/Unity/011005-MartinS.jpg

that has got to be the last full size floor now, hasn't it?