• Byrom Point Slide
  • Byrom Point Slide
  • Byrom Point Slide

Byrom Point, Liverpool

  • Client
    Numark (Watkin Jones Group)

Falconer Chester Hall recently completed this 398-bed student accommodation scheme with ground floor retail on Byrom Street in Liverpool. The development provides 12 and 14 storeys with a 12 storey glazed link situated between. The site has famous Victorian buildings such as the Walker Art Gallery and the World Museum just across the road, and the World Heritage status of the area underlines its historical value.

The building is a new landmark for the Northern approach to the city centre occupying a prominent position to the North of the City centre, and acts as a high-quality ‘gateway’ landmark into Liverpool.


Byrom Point Falconer Chester Hall

“Students have greater aspirations in terms of their accommodation needs these days and this development allowed us to make a clear statement of quality – both with regard to the internal living standards and also the overall design which references nearby historical buildings whilst remaining distinctive and original.”

Alastair Shepherd, Director, Falconer Chester Hall

New student accommodation within Liverpool City Centre remains a sensitive issue. While a moratorium on development has yet to be declared, there is a demand for projects for this purpose to represent a greater sense of ambition and aspiration. This sensitivity is naturally heightened for large-scale developments and those occupying highly visible sites particularly on gateway routes.

Falconer Chester Hall has recently completed a 398-bed student accommodation scheme which had to meet each of these challenges whilst also respecting its proximity to several buildings of great historical significance in the city.  The innovative development on Byrom Street provides 12 and 14 storeys of accommodation with a 12-storey glazed link situated between and an element of ground floor retail space helping to reanimate a formerly derelict site, and creating a link between Liverpool John Moore University and the assets of the cultural quarter.  Adjacent are a number of famous Victorian buildings such as the Walker Art Gallery and the World Museum just across the road, and the World Heritage status of the area underlines its historical value.

Falconer Chester Hall undertook to design a façade which could be read in the context of the nearby Victorian buildings including references to the recesses, regular window patterns and colour banding.  Deeper reveals to the upper levels, the development of gable forms accentuated with projecting frames and the legibility of windows above a nearby flyover help create a stimulating and interesting visual aspect. A considerable amount of thought also went into material choices and elevational treatments to soften the overall volume of the development.  Full curtain walling gives a lighter feel to all the facades. An aluminium panel in grey tone covers the building forming a second skin that offers depth and three-dimensional expression to all the elevations.  Perforated aluminium panels layer the façade and have a light green colour referencing the Volunteer Centre Building in Dale Street located in a close proximity to the site.