Join the RIBA North West Heritage, Conservation, and Sustainability Group and John Hinchliffe for a fascinating guided tour of Stanley Dock – described as “the biggest adaptive re-use project in Europe” by a visiting professor.
This remarkable historic site includes:
- The dock and security wall (1848)
- Two monumental warehouses by Jesse Hartley
- The vast Tobacco Warehouse (c.1900) one of the largest brick buildings in the world
- The Hydraulic Pumphouse (1852)
All these are listed buildings within a conservation area. Once thriving, they stood largely unused and increasingly derelict from the 1980s – too big a challenge for the Merseyside Development Corporation or most developers at the time.
After years of unrealised proposals, the entire site was acquired by Harcourt Developments around 2010, who secured permissions for an ambitious programme of restoration and conversion. Highlights so far include the opening of the Titanic Hotel and Rum Warehouse in 2014 and the first completed phase of the Tobacco Warehouse in 2021- each bringing unique heritage and practical challenges, from huge floor plates to low ceiling heights.
On the tour, you will:
- explore the exteriors of all major buildings
- step inside the Tobacco Warehouse and the Titanic Hotel
- glimpse the District Heat Centre
- see the almost-completed Stanley Locks social housing development
This is a rare opportunity to experience the scale, history, and ongoing transformation of one of Liverpool’s most iconic dockland sites.
