FOUR UNBUILT TOWERS AROUND LIVERPOOL - Shouldn't they have been built?

[@AidanEyewitness]

Thanks in advance for your comments, tips, information and occasionally corrections! I knew little about these proposals, they don't get much publicity nowadays, but it's interesting to imagine... what if?

[@adrianjones4812]

The Tower of Hope should be built in Liverpool city centre. It is a pity more buildings like the Liver Building were not built at the time as Liverpool was really the Chicago or New York of Britain. Let’s hope they make good use of the Waterfront location with chunky , classical and Art Deco style buildings not these cheap generic skinny residential blocks that are appearing in many provincial cities.

[@AidanEyewitness]

Unfortunately, most architects nowadays don't produce this more classical, art deco style today. They tend to follow a standard format, often a glass exterior, rectangular, not very adventurous, though there are exceptions.

[@ians3586]

Thank you for introducing me to Southport. I didn't know anything about it but it looks like a lovely place. I think the Tower of Hope would have been "a blot on the landscape". I think it would have looked completely out of place just like most other towers that have been built in isolation. There are exceptions, but I believe that most skyscrapers look best when they are clustered with other skyscrapers. Otherwise they end up overwhelming their surroundings. Of course someone has to be the first to build a skyscraper but Southport doesn't look like a place that needs that sort of rejuvenation. I do like the Ian Simpson design and as it is closer to the city centre, it perhaps could have been a successful addition to Liverpool's skyline.

[@AidanEyewitness]

I think most people will agree with you on that! Lone skyscrapers tend to look like vanity projects!

[@johnburns4017]

Napoleon III lived in exile in Southport, moving there from Liverpool.

[@Lord_Liverpool]

Another great video, thank you Aidan.

[@AidanEyewitness]

@@Lord_Liverpool Many thanks, especially coming from someone with your username!

[@Hazeybigman]

There were also plans submitted by Liverpool city Council for a 555 metre skyscraper back in 1979

[@AidanEyewitness]

Really, I didn't know about that! I can't find any reference to it online.

[@davidsivills3599]

Liverpool is better off without Unesco status, it's held the city back decades regarding development.

[@djsjtj1731]

So true

[@bigpaul4450]

absolute nonsense, its low land values hold it back. As soon as you hit 15 storeys costs rise exponentially thats what 'holds it back'. There is nothing wrong with a low rise good quality townscape

[@djsjtj1731]

@@bigpaul4450 yes there is we need to be building for the future not like in the past

[@AidanEyewitness]

I would tend to agree. Let's hope things improve in the future.

[@bigpaul4450]

@@djsjtj1731 Liverpool does not have a housing crisis, its housing figures have been reduced down the towers going up are of a poor design and sold as investor only

[@dutchiestudio]

thanks for the video dude i appreciate the mention of merseyside's infrastructure i've not seen much of it on youtube

[@AidanEyewitness]

Thanks very much for your comment. I will always be interested in the Liverpool region and hopefully development and construction will pick up there, and I'll have more to report on!

[@ians3586]

Yes, to murals. We have a nice collection of them around Cheltenham that brighten up otherwise dull areas of town.

[@AidanEyewitness]

Yes, it's funny, not so long ago there were very few murals, but today it seems every town has them. The ones in Philadelphia are great!

[@Cinemaker]

Superb video as always! 👍

[@AidanEyewitness]

@@Cinemaker Many thanks for your positive feedback, as ever.

[@johnburns4017]

Regarding the stone clad tower. Parts of the Empire State building in NYC is clad with Storeton Wirral stone. When NYC was reclaiming land on the east side of Manhattan before the USA entered WW2, rubble from the bombings in Liverpool was used as ballast on convoy ships, which was the in infill. So a part of the east side of Manhattan is actually Liverpool.

[@AidanEyewitness]

Wow, I had no idea, that's fascinating. Many thanks for sharing this!

[@johnburns4017]

@@AidanEyewitness The stone on the lower part of the Empire State I believe is from Storeton. It was cheap and easy to transport. Take it to nearby Birkenhead Docks then a ship directly to Manhattan yards away. All in one sailing. .

[@kmac5849]

My father used to pass down stories from his grandmother of the Brighton tower , apparently a venue for the well to do

[@AidanEyewitness]

@@kmac5849 Wow, fascinating. I’d love to have heard those stories!

[@christopherslack924]

Excellent

[@AidanEyewitness]

@@christopherslack924 Thanks very much 😊

[@samegerton1858]

Another excellent video,thank-you! I dont know if you're aware, but theres an architecture/urban renewal development forum online with a section devoted to Liverpool and its current and planned projects? Your excellent vlogs would fit really well there imo and it may give you ideas for future videos?

[@AidanEyewitness]

Thanks have you got the details of the forum and I'll take a look.

[@samegerton1858]

​@@AidanEyewitnesshave tried to reply repeatedly sorry but for some reason it keeps deleting my reply,could be that I'm trying to include a link to the forum. If you Google skyscrapercity forums and go from there. If you need any more info just give me a shout!

[@johnburns4017]

@@samegerton1858 That forum is full of nut cases.

[@pippin9466]

Wow you went all the way to Southport for the video, well done

[@AidanEyewitness]

It's part of my territory, my coverage area. I like to visit the locations so I can get a feel for the place. It's interesting visiting all these parts of the urban area.

[@pippin9466]

@@AidanEyewitness im glad you went as southport is my home town

[@AidanEyewitness]

@@pippin9466 I like Southport, a different experience to Blackpool.😊

[@pippin9466]

@@AidanEyewitness true, they are both good in their own ways

[@GrahamBandage]

The Herculaneum development was initially supposed to be much taller. As I recall, the developers went bust after the first few floors were built, and an entirely new design was constructed on top of the previously completed structure.

[@AidanEyewitness]

@@GrahamBandage I wasn’t aware of that. Many thanks for the information.

[@johnburns4017]

Aiden, nice vid as usual.

[@AidanEyewitness]

Thanks very much for your feedback, much appreciated.

[@andyarmstrong1175]

Tower of Hope!!! Just get the pier repaired and opened again instead! 👍🇬🇧

[@AidanEyewitness]

@@andyarmstrong1175 It will cost in excess of 13 million pounds, more than many buildings! Who is going to pay for it? Many thanks for being the first commenter!

[@pippin9466]

@@AidanEyewitness i do hope that they reopen it but chances are slimmer than many think due to the steep price

[@xcalum_mcnal21x46]

Theres new “mini scrapers” in dublin since your last visit and new devlopments

[@AidanEyewitness]

I'll take a look on my next visit. Many thanks!

[@xcalum_mcnal21x46]

@@AidanEyewitnessno problem!

[@tulyar57]

I have posted previously on Aiden's videos of my general mistrust of 'vanity' high rise building and therefore I am not sorry that the projects here have been abandoned. Similarly, it seems to me that the likes of the New Brighton and Blackpool towers were just tourist copycat responses to the Eiffel Tower of 1889. Resurrecting a tower in New Brighton in the 21st century after one was condemned in the 20th does not make sense to me. However, designs like nearby Birkenhead Park (1840s) were innovative, being blueprints for the later Central Park in New York. Maybe I am just a romantic but many arthitectural projects now just seem to lack imagination. Whether that is a fault of architects, planners or developers, I am not sure.

[@AidanEyewitness]

Thanks very much for your thoughts, as I mentioned in another reply to a comment, lone skyscrapers tend to look like - and often are - vanity projects. It's great to think that Birkenhead Park was an inspiration for Central Park. I think you're right, many projects do lack imagination. I think it's because of the planning process. They don't want to risk a building being refused planning permission, so they keep to a standard type of design. I think in other countries, planners are more open to innovative designs.

[@johnburns4017]

@@AidanEyewitness The Lakhta Center in St.Petersburg is a lone tower, but its location is just right. A lone occupied tower, not a pole with something at the top, at New Brighton would work well.

[@malcolmodoy2651]

We should remember our past but not live in it. The future is where our children and children's children will live.

[@AidanEyewitness]

Well, as time progresses, the future has a habit of turning into the past! I regard the past, present and future all as one.

[@johnburns4017]

You can live in the environment of the past for sure. You imply we must destroy the urban built up past casting it to history books. Far too much of Liverpool's past, and other UK cities, was needlessly destroyed for this future thing.