These schemes, by the Downing Developments-led Islington Regeneration Company (IRC), will provide a further 800 student beds on sites within the Knowledge Quarter and close to several of Liverpool’s leading educational institutions.

The buildings are the first part of a masterplan, including leisure, retail, residential and office uses, which will transform the 20-acre site and contribute to the expansion of Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter.

The larger of the student living schemes will house a ground floor communal areas and restaurant space, plus 544 beds within three buildings between six and nine storeys high on land currently occupied by light industrial units. The second scheme at 10 storeys in height is for 317 beds and a retail unit and coffee shop/cafe.

Both buildings take inspiration from the area’s historic links with the textile trade with thread motifs used across the façades and bold colours marking a new start for the area.