St Georges Hall, Liverpool

St Georges Hall

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Project Overview

St. George’s Hall (Grade 1) is Liverpool’s principal civic building and arguably the finest neoclassical building in Europe.  The building was designed by Harvey Lonsdale Elmes and completed by CR Cockerell with innovative heating and air-conditioning systems by Dr David Boswell-Reid.  It comprises the Great Hall, designed to resemble the Baths of Caracalla in Rome, a Concert Hall a Crown and Civil Court as well as a range of Victorian cells, function spaces and a wealth of fine detail.  

St Georges Core Project

Following the relocation of the law courts in the mid-1980’s, the building fell largely out of use and was even threatened with demolition.  Robert (and Jennifer) have been involved at St. George’s Hall since the late 1990s. Initially working on one of the largest early HLF grants (£23m over two phases).  Robert subsequently delivered the restoration of the Hall on site from 2004-2007, including re-roofing, stonework repairs, extensive re-modelling and restoration of some of the country’s finest Victorian interiors, before being re-opened by the (then) Prince of Wales in 2007.  Since the establishment of Chambers Conservation, the team have led a series of phases of repair to the external stonework, conservation of the highly significant Great Hall ceiling plasterwork and developed a new masterplan and conservation plan.  The team have developed proposals for the basement areas to become new event spaces. This is being developed as an application to the NLHF who also supported the earlier phases of work.