Austin Smith-Lord’s £50 million Liverpool Central Library project has opened after a three year complete overhaul. The scheme, in a World Heritage Site, involved the restoration of grade I listed elements as well as the insertion of a new building behind a historic facade. It was funded by PFI.
The six-storey new building is arranged around a full-height atrium crowned with a glazed dome and roof terrace. Hardscape produced and supplied the Artscape hard landscaping outside the main entrance and inside the atrium area with Crystal Black, Kobra, Royal White granite paving (including the granite walling outside) and Woodkirk sandstone paving around the entrance.
Best quote of the day in the Daily Mail said: “It’s like going to meet your gran and finding she’s turned into Beyoncé”.