Members of the public are being invited to comment on the final masterplan for the £1.2 billion Kings project on Liverpool’s waterfront.

Attendees will be able to review the plans and speak with the design, planning, heritage and transport teams behind the proposals from 10am to 7pm on 1 May and from 10am to 4pm on 2 May. An exhibition will be hosted in the Radisson Blu hotel on Old Hall Street in a suite overlooking the development site.

In addition, a full consultation website mirroring the exhibition’s contents will go live at one minute past midnight on 1 May for members of the public who cannot attend the event. The site will be live for seven days, closing for submissions at midnight on 7 May, and will be found at www.kingsconsultation.com

“This is a key moment in the shaping of our final proposals,” says Chris Bolland of Liverpool-based Brock Carmichael Architects, the scheme’s designers.

“An awful lot of hard work has gone into our designs, taking into consideration everything from heritage and permeability to layout, massing and scale. The council has been a key partner and offered a robust challenge which has helped us deliver a very strong set of proposals. Now we need to hear what the people of Liverpool and Wirral think,” adds Chris.

Hugh Frost, chairman of Beetham Davos Limited, acting for the applicant KEIE Limited, says securing the opinions of people on both sides of the river is vital.

“This is everyone’s skyline and the on-line consultation will help ensure we fully reflect the views of people from across Merseyside. We have thought very carefully about historic sight-lines from the Wirral shore and are in no doubt that the development, when complete, will add huge value and interest to those of its residents and businesses with views of Liverpool.”

All the elements of the scheme’s masterplan will be open for public scrutiny before the submission of a hybrid planning application to Liverpool City Council in the summer.

“We may have missed something or may be able to enhance certain elements of our proposals, so the consultation is about tapping into the wisdom of crowds,” adds Chris. “We don’t have a monopoly on good ideas and whilst we back these proposals 100 per cent, who’s to say they can’t be improved with a tweak or two here and there?”

Bolland says that the period between the consultation and submission of the application will be spent considering final feedback. “If we make any substantive adjustments, then we’ll come back to the public to share them,” he adds.

Ten buildings are proposed for Kings, which will be divided into three zones, with the scheme’s residential element at the northern end, linking the nearby communities of Waterloo Dock and Pall Mall. Office space will be at the development’s southern end, acting as a bridge between the business district and Princes Dock office quarters, with the scheme’s leisure zone in the middle, combining cultural attractions with two hotels, plus cafes, bars and restaurants.

The hybrid application will seek detailed consent for layout, site services and some of the buildings, with outline consent for the remaining building plots. The application will include four residential towers, two hotels, Grade A offices, a new arts venue, shared workspace for start-ups and tech businesses and a range of food, beverage and leisure outlets.

“Kings is a statement of our confidence in Liverpool, its leadership and its economy,” adds Hugh. “We are backing ourselves in our drive to deliver a step-change for the city’s economy and this consultation is to ask the public for its backing, too.”

Brock Carmichael are the masterplan architects for Kings, with Pegasus Group providing planning, economics, heritage and EIA Services and Planit leading on public realm design. WSP is advising on highways.

Related posts:

Green light welcomed on new homes for city Approved Wolstenholme phase to “change character” of Seel Street 656-unit residential scheme among newly approved projects Nexus Residential starts work on £35m Baltic Triangle apartment scheme First 150 apartments complete at Wirral’s Millers Quay development Rosmara Development Group welcomes approval for 158 Vauxhall homes