The transformation of one of Liverpool’s landmark office buildings into the UK’s second Aloft hotel is expected to create at least 50 new jobs.
The £18m deal to convert the neglected Grade II listed Royal Insurance Building was only accomplished after a three-way partnership between Runcorn-based Ashall Property, English Heritage and Liverpool City Council, which paid £1.95m for the freehold of the North John Street building.
Unoccupied for 20 years — which led to the former insurance headquarters being placed on the national “Buildings at Risk” register — the international hotel operator Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide was eventually persuaded to open one of its Aloft branded hotels in the building.
“This scheme is a real win-win for the city,” explained Nick Small, city council cabinet member for employment and skills. “It has brought back into use a beautiful building that has lain derelict for many years while at the same time securing fantastic employment opportunities for local people.”
The 116-bedroom conversion was designed by Liverpool architect Falconer Chester Hall with Balfour Beatty as the main contractor. English Heritage also contributed £297,500 to the project.
Aloft Liverpool will be the fourth hotel to open under the brand in Europe and only the second in Britain. Glasgow-based BDL Management, currently contracted to run 47 hotels nationwide, will operate the Merseyside establishment.
As the UK and Ireland area manager for Starwood Hotels, Colin Bennett said his company was “thrilled to be operating in such an iconic property … Aloft Liverpool perfectly illustrates how we can transform a once derelict, historic building, into a world-class hotel and bring new life into the local area.
“We are extremely proud of what has been achieved and feel confident that both the local community and visitors to Liverpool alike will embrace the transformation of this much-loved building,” he added.
Mark Ashall is a director of Ashall Property, which provided much of funding for the four-year revamp. “This has been a very challenging project,” he said. “And we are proud to have completed a stunning renovation of one of Liverpool’s most iconic buildings which has seen it being taken off the ‘at risk’ register and brought back into productive use.”
Originally completed in 1903 as the head office of the Royal Insurance Company, the four-storey building was one of the first in Britain to be constructed around a steel frame. At the time of its opening one newspaper report described its architecture as “sumptuous Neo-Baroque on the grandest scale”.
