Knowledge Quarter kicks off in Liverpool

Structural steelwork is nearing completion on one of the first phases of Liverpool’s ambitious Knowledge Quarter development.

The £39M scheme, being delivered by ISG for Ion Developments, is set to transform a site opposite Lime Street Station, with new retail, leisure, student accommodation and a new Premier Inn hotel.

Steelwork contractor, Billington Structures, is nearing completion of its erection programme that will eventually include 1,300t of steel.

Sat atop a steel-framed podium level that accommodates retail units, the scheme includes a 10-storey, 412-bed student accommodation block and an adjacent three-storey Premier Inn hotel with 101 guest rooms.

Chosen for its speed of construction and cost, the steelwork is predominantly based around a regular 7.3m grid pattern. In order to avoid having bracing inside the lower level retail units, to allow for more flexibility in shop sizes, the structures are stabilised by a combination of sway and moment frames.

Covering a 450-acre site, the Knowledge Quarter will extend from the city’s main railway station at Lime Street north eastwards towards John Moores University. It will consist of a number of new educational, technology, innovation and creative facilities.