Location: Paddington Village, Liverpool
Project team: Morgan Sindall Construction, AHR, Arup, CBRE, Overbury, Knight Frank and KQ Liverpool
Completion: 2021
Morgan Sindall Construction has completed The Spine, billed as one of the world’s healthiest buildings, in Liverpool.
The company was joined by Liverpool’s new mayor, Joanne Anderson, and Liverpool city-region metro mayor Steve Rotheram to officially open the £35m, 14-storey tower located at the eastern gateway of the Knowledge Quarter Liverpool (KQ Liverpool) Innovation District on 21 May.
Grade A office space
The Spine, which is the first Grade A office building in the Liverpool city-region for more than a decade, was designed according to the scientific and medical research principles established in the international WELL Standard to achieve Well Platinum.
Designed by architecture and building consultancy practice AHR, the 160,000 sq ft building stands more than 500ft above sea level, with views across the city and as far the Pennines and Snowdonia.
The mayors toured the building and met Dr Andrew Goddard, president of the Royal College of Physicians, which will make The Spine its Northern home and its first significant presence outside London.
The institution, which represents over 40,000 doctors across the world and traces its roots back to the reign of Henry VIII, has spent £13m fitting out its offices across seven floors.
The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre will also take a floor at The Spine, with the city council in negotiations to complete the occupancy of the rest of the building.
The Spine’s distinctive façade is inspired by human skin, with a Voronoi pattern including 23m individual polygons applied in a frit pattern to the glazing.
Richard Potts, Morgan Sindall Construction’s area director for Liverpool, said: “The Spine’s breath-taking design does justice to what it represents for the future of our city. It symbolises the council’s inspirational vision of ensuring that Liverpool can become an international leader in science and technology, creating the high skilled jobs that will drive both the local and national economies forward.”
