Liverpool has seen its leisure sector develop exponentially over the past decade, with a particularly lively and popular restaurant scene. This is an industry that is stimulated by locals and tourists alike, and it appears that there will be a new addition to the venues on offer in the near future on a very impressive scale.
Liverpool City Council have approved plans for a new £120 million ‘super restaurant’ situated on Liverpool’s iconic waterfront, which will see a Grade II-listed space turned into a 200-seat venue that spans 4,400 square feet.
The new restaurant will be situated in the Victorian Hydraulic Pumphouse Station in Stanley Dock and will incorporate original design pieces from the structure into the repurposed restaurant space such as the brick chimney and parts of the boiler room. This new restaurant space feeds into an overarching £250 million regeneration programme that aims to transform Stanley Dock into one of the city’s most exclusive areas, with a focus on providing high quality hotel, restaurant, and residential spaces.
This exciting project is set to combine elements of the old and the new to provide a high-quality restaurant space. Such an interesting project means great things for architecture jobs in Liverpool as well as the local economy with the jobs it will provide during construction and after completion once the restaurant is open.
The space will include a variety of offerings, such as a private dining space, lounge areas and cloakrooms on the upper levels, with the engine room transformed into a dining space with a 36ft-high ceiling that has a new feature roof. The space has been designed by Darmody Architecture and definitely operates with the customer in mind, adopting an open plan professional chef’s kitchen for the restaurant to allow guests to view the spectacle of the kitchen from their seats alongside glass designs and a waterfront dining terrace that provides beautiful views of the docks. Other impressive features will include a 23ft-high atrium that will connect the new extension to the original structure and will function as a cocktail bar.
Director of Stanley Dock Properties, Pat Power, states that ‘Stanley Dock Properties are delighted to have been granted detailed planning consent by Liverpool City Council to restore and transform the Grade II listed historic Pumphouse at Stanley Dock into a new destination restaurant which we believe will become the finest waterfront eatery in the city.’
Power also outlined just how big of a project this is, stating that ‘this will be a major restoration project as the Pumphouse is in need of a new roof and other structural interventions in order to return it to beneficial use.’ Power states that ‘we are currently reviewing the food offering, branding, interior fit out and operator for the new restaurant, to be announced at a later date alongside details of when construction of the new eatery will begin and an anticipated opening date.’
This exciting project not only provides regeneration for a key space in the city but also offers the opportunity to take Liverpool’s leisure sector to the next level. It will be exciting to see the direction this super restaurant goes in when more details are announced.
