KING EDWARD TRIANGLE - JUST IMAGINE | Liverpool Future Building Boom

[@mikeymike390]

Your videos are so good and professionally made. These will provide a valuable historic record. The fabric of our cities is evolving at a rapid rate. Hope we don't look back with regret, like a lot of the post war redevelopment.

[@AidanEyewitness]

@@mikeymike390 Thanks very much! Yes I am doing it for posterity and to capture how things were before the new buildings appeared. Glad to hear the videos seem professional, though I use just basic equipment. Many thanks! 😊

[@robertmaher377]

Excellent video, Liverpool is a really interesting place, I like how old and new buildings co-exist there

[@AidanEyewitness]

Thanks very much, I agree, old and new are side by side and it's a nice combination.

[@AidanEyewitness]

Another video is ready - it took time to research and edit. Many thanks in advance for your comments and corrections (if any). Please don't forget to subscribe and hit the like button!

[@djsjtj1731]

The tallest ovatus was taller than stated in the video. I think you have confused the taller tower with the smaller one.

[@tulyar57]

I am slowly changing my mind on this topic. I was never a fan of highrise (thinking them 'so 20th century'). However, given Liverpool's American "Gotham City" architectural feel with numerous Grade 2 listed classical and gothic buildings and the uniqueness and openness of the waterfront this development may be spectacular.

[@AidanEyewitness]

That's very interesting to hear. Many people are very fixed in their views. I would tekd to agree with you. Many thanks for your comment!

[@tulyar57]

@@AidanEyewitness I think many of us have a NIMBY approach to 'modern' architecture in that it may work somewhere else . I think that cities by their nature are dynamic and mothballing them ultimately leads to decline. I have not lived in Liverpool for 25 years but I am still, quite irrationally, sensitive to development and change. Watching this video has made me recognise thate the regeneration of this area done in this way will both revitalise the city and enhance the wow factor the waterfront is famous for.

[@djsjtj1731]

Been waiting for this for the last week

[@AidanEyewitness]

@@djsjtj1731 Sorry about the delay. I missed my Friday deadline and needed to make some changes. 😊

[@topcatcoolio8807]

Im old enough to remember people having a drink in the king Edward pub. I also worked in construction as a lad in tate and lyle sugars nearby now gone. Thanks for video. As long as no good buildings are demolished, im ok with new along side. It is progress in our great city

[@AidanEyewitness]

Thanks very much, great to hear your reminiscences! The good buildings were already demolished many years ago.

[@JohnnyZenith]

There's the Beetham tower in Birmingham too. Be good to see Leeds again sometime. I'll be seeing Birmingham next year too, as well as Manchester. Everybody I know who visits Liverpool loves it. I need to get there too.

[@AidanEyewitness]

I definitely recommend Liverpool. I also plan to go to Birmingham soon.

[@-scgg-gg7938]

I quite like how Patagonia Place looks, had no idea that had been constructed.

[@AidanEyewitness]

Well, we'll soon be able to see what the finished product will look like. Many thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[@sheshsyddrybd]

Considering it’s by Beetham the odds of it getting built is way much higher than the other failed skyscraper projects

[@AidanEyewitness]

Yes I agree. They have a good track record behind them.

[@johnlarkin3629]

Very good watch I loved it, thank you very much.

[@AidanEyewitness]

@@johnlarkin3629 Thank you for your kind words!

[@johnburns4017]

Another nice vid. Some points. • Beetham is a Liverool company, who built many of the towers in the UK. • The ugly Sun Alliance building (the sandcastle) built in early 1970s, was heated and cooled by heat pumps. The water drained from the Mersey railway tunnel was a constant 13C all year around. This water was pumped into the building with heat pumps extracting from and dumping heat into the water. When used the water entered the sewage system keeping it permanently flushed out. It was way ahead of its time. I am not sure if heat pumps are still used. It changed ownership - the new owners may have been cheapo philistines - not sure. • The Sun Alliance building is a brilliant shape but is clad appallingly. Given artistic licence the cladding could be replaced creating a stunning looking building. Insulation could also be under the cladding further improving its environmental credentials.

[@AidanEyewitness]

That's really interesting, many thanks for the info. The brown exterior is not attractive but as you say, if it was reclad, it could transform its appearance. I wonder if this has ever been considered. So many buildings are being reclad these days, why not this one?

[@johnburns4017]

@@AidanEyewitness Different colours on many of the facets of the building would bring it out. It is an interesting shape for sure. On the environmental front have a look at St.George's solar school in Wallasey on the opposite bank to Liverpool, from *1961.* It is on the web. Way ahead of its time.

[@phillongfootphotographyuk]

thanks for video. the king edward triangle seems to be a goer as those involved seem to know what they are doing and have the finance. peel wouldnt have sold the land to them. looking forward to your future videoes. thanks for covering developments in Liverpool

[@AidanEyewitness]

Many thanks, I agree. I will always cover Liverpool because it’s a fantastic city and easy for me to get to! I also have personal associations going back to my childhood.

[@johnburns4017]

@@AidanEyewitness Two cities 30 miles apart and much going on, so it makes sense to cover the two. The next big thing should be fast rail connections and new infrastructure in the two cities - NPR. Not designed yet, but the LCR put up a render of a rebuilt and expanded Central underground station for NPR purposes to gain attention as the HMG conference is in Liverpool. It may work. Why is Burnham barking on about HS2, wasting energy on the cancelled project, when he should be in league with Liverpool, Sheff and Leeds on _direct_ fast east-west rail links. Liverpool needs extra links if only for its expanding port, which is the North of England's port, serving them all - they all gain when its efficiency improves.

[@audreyodell6591]

Great comments.

[@ScouserWithADrone]

Thanks for the video. I'll keep an eye on this!

[@AidanEyewitness]

@@ScouserWithADrone Many thanks, it will be interesting to see it develop.

[@jasontrow2483]

Excellent video as always. The only mistake though is the skyscraper designs at the end of old hall street and Leeds Street. They are actually a current planning application to be completed although the updated version is not as impressive as the originals that you showed. You can never hold count on anything being built in Liverpool but fingers crossed for that particular project!

[@AidanEyewitness]

Okay, thanks for the info, I'll keep an eye on that and look at the updated design.

[@johnburns4017]

How bad is the new design?

[@jasontrow2483]

@@johnburns4017 they are okay but just nowhere as good as the original renderings which did stand out and would have really added to the city and skyline. They are more boxy than the curved design of the original.

[@johnburns4017]

@@jasontrow2483 So just some cheapish anonymous blocks.

[@davidsivills3599]

I hope it gets built,if this was Manchester or London or even Leeds it would definitely get built.

[@AidanEyewitness]

I personally am very confident it will be built and I intend to document the construction from beginning to end!

[@davidsivills3599]

Great can't wait.@@AidanEyewitness

[@meganjb10]

We want it to be Liverpool not Manchester or Leeds

[@doubledigital_]

Good, will be a great view of the new powerplant bridge looking thing they are hoping to build as well!!

[@AidanEyewitness]

This is the Mersey Barrage, a very interesting project en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mersey_Barrage

[@rosse6705]

I hope they do, The waterfront definitely needs more high rises.

[@AidanEyewitness]

Yes, I'm sure taller and towers will start to appear not long from now.

[@KPP365]

The curved glass building held all the computers for the JM centre nearby.

[@AidanEyewitness]

Ah yes I read that but didn't manage to get it in the video, so thanks for providing the information.

[@KPP365]

@@AidanEyewitness Brilliant video 👍

[@AidanEyewitness]

@@KPP365 Fantastic, thanks very much!

[@ghawkins24]

I can only hope that this adds to the evidence to support a transport link similar to the docklands light railway. We had the overhead railway years back. The infrastructure to serve the docks and new everton stadium is non existent at the moment.

[@AidanEyewitness]

Absolutely right. The problem is the rail links and other infrastructure tend to come after the buildings are put up. It would be great to have a DLR-type system along the newly developed dockside area.

[@ghawkins24]

@AidanEyewitness we can only hope🙏. Brilliant video mate.

[@AidanEyewitness]

@@ghawkins24 Many thanks! 😊

[@johnburns4017]

Sandhills, the neatest station to EFC, is not having any extra platforms. Rotheram, in his naivety, thinks bendy-buses can fill the gap in shifting 54,000. No kidding.

[@ohwhatworld5851]

Unity Building is an absolute monstrosity!

[@AidanEyewitness]

@@ohwhatworld5851 Thanks for sharing! 😊

[@ohwhatworld5851]

@@AidanEyewitness I live in Beetham Tower and I die a bit inside whenever I walk passed it lol

[@AidanEyewitness]

@@ohwhatworld5851 What’s it like living there? 😀

[@ohwhatworld5851]

@@AidanEyewitness hmmmm. The flats are nice. But our service charge is getting completely out of hand now. I am paying £3200 service charge for my flat each year. It is one big racket that is affecting many leaseholders across the UK. We also had an issue with the insulation on our building, so our buildings insurance has skyrocketed. Currently I'm paying almost £2600 for that each year. On a positive note, the remediation work to fix that should be complete in December so next year our insurance should come back down to a reasonable level.

[@AidanEyewitness]

@@ohwhatworld5851 Oh dear. I’ve heard some horror stories! At least the flat is nice. Many thanks for the info.

[@tonydolton4544]

You should check out Leeds

[@AidanEyewitness]

I've already done one video on Leeds but that was a while back. I'm planning another very soon. Many thanks for your recommendation. Leeds is a great city and there are some very interesting new buildings under construction.

[@iamjameschang]

It makes me wonder if other developers can't take on some of these contracts to 'resume' the failed projects, because it seems like so much opportunity to revitalise has been missed.

[@AidanEyewitness]

Hmm, that’s an interesting question. To resume the part-built Infinity would be difficult and costly, I think.

[@Everton-ww8qk]

More Liverpool vids mate thanks

[@AidanEyewitness]

I try to do one Liverpool, one one Manchester and so on, though there is more construction in progress in Manchester. I will always do Liverpool videos, thanks!

[@benjaminwilson2945]

I think a good building should age well, rather than just looking good when it's new, although obviously all buildings need repairs at some point. There's a lot of interesting post war buildings around the area, which I admire as they simultaneously pay homage to elements of the more classic buildings in the area, while also being innovative and unique for their time.

[@AidanEyewitness]

Very good points here, I agree. But it can be difficult to predict just after it's built how well a building will age! Oriel Chambers looks great!

[@extrude22]

As an architect I can tell you that most of what you design doesn’t get built. Some developers have no intention of actually building anything. Sometimes they change their mind at the last minute, deciding it’s too costly. Sometimes you don’t get planning permission and the developer cuts their losses and sells the site. Sometimes you will design something, get planning permission but then the developer gets a different architect to actually build the project. And it takes a lot of work to get projects as far as planing permission. All of the major technical issues need to be considered and worked out as it can be difficult to got back and make changes later. I think architects do feel sad when things don’t get built but it’s just the way the industry works.

[@AidanEyewitness]

Wow, thank you very much for responding to my remark 'I wonder how architects feel when their plans don't go ahead'. As a child I wanted to be an architect but I went in a different direction. 'Most of what you design doesn't get built'. Surprising but in view of what you've told me, I see it must be true. Thank you very much, we can all learn a lot from architects. And here's another question: How do architects feel when their building gets demolished?

[@extrude22]

@@AidanEyewitness I bet it clicks when you think about it. Think about how many proposals you’ve seen which never get built. Some never even make it into the public domain. I’ve been qualified for under a decade so everything I’ve been involved in is very much still standing. What is interesting is to go and look at your old projects and see how they are aging. After a couple of years bad design, workmanship and material choices become very evident!

[@Ste2023]

interesting....

[@AidanEyewitness]

Thank you for your comment.

[@barker_]

The elders of Liverpool's recent past have been so short sighted. People whos knowledge of architecture may have only stretched to the conservatory our kid got on the back of his Persimmon house. Going all the way back to the Fourth Grave debacle to now being all in for skyscrapers but not innovative skyscrapers...oh no. Bog standard ,could be anywhere skyscrapers. Imagination, zeal, innovation and vision could have had some of those types of building that being people to a city. We all know how the Eiffel Tower was once hated by Parisians ....

[@AidanEyewitness]

Very valid points, but as far as I can see, imagination, zeal, innovation and vision are all very well, but very large budgets are needed to bring visions to reality.

[@MarkPitsmoorOwl]

The same Company is Building a Tall Building in Sheffield called Kings Tower it’s going to be 40 Stories high it’s just had planning permission granted

[@AidanEyewitness]

Thanks very much for that information. I hope to do a video from Sheffield, so I'll keep that in mind.

[@MarkPitsmoorOwl]

@@AidanEyewitness remember its Englands 3rd largest city by way of Size & the 4th largest city by way of Population All the best from the steel city of Sheffield 👊👍

[@benjaminwilson2945]

7:37 Also known as the sandcastles.

[@AidanEyewitness]

Ah yes, because of its sandy colour. It would be interesting to build an actual sandcastle shaped like the Sandcastle!

[@JoJo-xb7do]

So pleased the last one proposed didn't go ahead. They look so awful and blighted Liverpools skyline

[@AidanEyewitness]

Well, we'll have to wait and see what's coming up in the future.

[@meganjb10]

Get some facts straight Liver builds was not one of the tallest floored building in England it was the tallest in Europe untill about 30s,and tallest in England until around 60s it was classed as a skyscraper ,

[@AidanEyewitness]

I said the Liver Building was one of the first tall buildings in the UK. That is correct. I didn't specify floored or skyscraper. New Brighton Tower (1898) was taller at at 153 metres. St Paul's Cathedral and others are taller. Thanks for flagging this up anyway, it's an interesting point.

[@phreffable]

Why name a building after a feudal lord?

[@AidanEyewitness]

Very good point. Good name for a tower on an old castle, not a good name for a futuristic skyscraper.

[@johnburns4017]

It is named after an ale house.

[@Stand663]

I’m into property. This was all part of the last governments levelling up agenda. I’m sure because the same development is happening in North Yorkshire Humber and Wearside, Grimsby etc. London has become expensive, so everything was moved up further north.

[@AidanEyewitness]

That's interesting, many thanks. To what extent it's thanks to the last government would need to be investigated.

[@IDMmaster-l2m]

Yawn enough with the Liverpool videos, it's literally dead there.

[@djsjtj1731]

Yeah ok mate

[@AidanEyewitness]

No it's not! There are great projects going on, like the Everton stadium, Littlewoods plans for north Liverpool. The pace just isn't as fast as Manchester.

[@djsjtj1731]

@@AidanEyewitness your right mate. I think he’s a Manc. And that’s why he said it

[@richardmaddocks4243]

You 'literally' couldn't be more wrong. The GDP of Liverpool is currently growing at 20%, yes 20%. Which makes it the fastest growing city in the whole of the UK. Have a nice day pal.

[@benjaminwilson2945]

9:51 It looks scary to me, like a wobbly Jenga tower that is ready to blow over in the wind, or a building from a film set in a dystopian future. It might have looked cool in concept but I don't think it would have translated well. I'm not opposed to unique buildings, but I'm glad this particular one didn't go ahead.

[@AidanEyewitness]

I know what you mean, but there are precarious buildings like that in other cities, like the Jenga building in New York. I understand it was rejected as CABE didn't like it!

[@LeeHoward-ef5bg]

100 m people in Britain by 2050,they've all gotta live somewhere

[@AidanEyewitness]

According to the Office of National Statistics, quoted on the ICAEW website it's 70 million by 2050, still of lot of people and a valid point, they've all got to live somewhere and there has to be a good supply of places to live, otherwise rents and prices will go sky high, as in Dublin and other regions. www.icaew.com/insights/viewpoints-on-the-news/2024/feb-2024/chart-of-the-week-uk-population-projections

[@matthewjswan5022]

Since when has the Bermudan triangle ever been in the North Atlantic?!

[@AidanEyewitness]

Where is the Bermuda Triangle, then? 😊

[@matthewjswan5022]

@@AidanEyewitness well what can I say you are indeed right. My apologise. It’s amazing g to me that the NORTh ATLANTIC STETCNES TO mid and south America! lol. Thanks ☺ for your informative videoss as always!

[@AidanEyewitness]

@@matthewjswan5022 Yes, I checked with Wikipedia. I thought it was more sort of in the Caribbean, but Bermuda on the top corner is definitely in the North Atlantic, west side. Many thanks for your positive comments and for fact-checking me!

[@matthewjswan5022]

@@AidanEyewitness Caribbean to meis in the southern hemisphere. I was surprised when I checked. Having been brought up in Liverpool though I do appreciate your updates. The city has long had issues with positive investment. I wish we’d keep pace with Manchester given our History as 2nd City in UK

[@Theoriginalbigbrillo]

Anyone got a sick bag 🤕🤕🤕🤕 And certain Liverpudlians call this progress! P.S. Aidan , did you ever visit and or drink in the said Pub "The King Edward" ................?

[@AidanEyewitness]

No, I didn't. Ship & Mitre, Baltic Fleet, Magazine. But your message is not clear: Which designs do you not like?

[@lalbiakhlunaralte940]

Infinity building plan is so nice,Why not build🥲

[@AidanEyewitness]

I would guess there are massive problems in reactivating a rotting, corroded uncompleted framework of a building. But, yes the plans look great.