KINGS DOCK

[Kev]

THE architects who designed Newcastle's Millennium Bridge were today named as the team to transform Liverpool's Kings Dock.

Wilkinson Eyre won the contract to design the £100m concert arena and conference centre and immediately pledged to make the city a world-beating venue.

[Kev]

MOUCHEL Parkman has been appointed by Liverpool Vision to advise on transport proposals for the redevelopment of the Kings Dock site at Liverpool Waterfront.

The Kent-based company, which has an office in Ellesmere Port, is a leading services support services on projects such as highways and bridges.

The Kings Dock site covers more than 14 hectares of prime waterfront location and its development is a seen as a vital component in the approved regeneration strategy for Liverpool City Centre.

The proposed development will provide world class conference facilities, a multi-purpose arena, hotels as well as residential apartments and other commercial uses.

The civic facilities are expected to be operational in time for Liverpool's Capital of Culture year in 2008.

Nasar Malik, Mouchel Parkman's director of transport planning, said: "We are delighted that Liverpool Vision has chosen Mouchel Parkman as its transport consultant for this high profile development."

[Kev]

McLean will build phase one of the site masterplan, comprising 290 apartments, with construction taking place early next year.

Eliot Lewis Ward, area director at English Partnerships, which owns the site, said: "This first phase makes up a significant part of one of the most important sites in Europe."

The new apartments will be built on the south west corner of the site.

In February architect firm Wilkinson Eyre was appointed to design the conference, arena and exhibition centres.

A public exhibition detailing the whole project is planned for the end of May and a planning application for the scheme is expected to be submitted in June. All works should be completed in time for 2008, the Capital of Culture year.

[Kev]

A MULTI-MILLION pound casino plan for Liverpool's Kings Dock could create 2,500 jobs, it was claimed last night.



The owner of Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Peel Holdings, has formed a partnership with Las Vegas-based casino MGM Mirage to draw up a blueprint for a waterfront casino complex.

The partnership has been in talks with the city council and has formally expressed an interest in being part of the Kings Dock regeneration scheme, which already includes a £100m mix of arena, conference centre and residential apartments.

The casino would create 1,500 construction jobs and 1,000 leisure-related jobs and is likely to include a luxury hotel, leisure and conference facilities.

A waterfront site would be ideal for attracting wealthy passengers disembarking at the planned cruise liner terminal at the Pier Head, which is expected to be built next autumn.

The partnership has been in talks with the city council and has formally expressed an interest in being part of the Kings Dock regeneration scheme, which already includes a £100m mix of arena, conference centre and residential apartments.

The casino would create 1,500 construction jobs and 1,000 leisure-related jobs and is likely to include a luxury hotel, leisure and conference facilities.

A waterfront site would be ideal for attracting wealthy passengers disembarking at the planned cruise liner terminal at the Pier Head, which is expected to be built next autumn.

[Kev]

from the liverpool echo....

Architects have changed their plans to build a separate conference centre and arena - instead combing both in one stylish scheme that should be ready by 2008, in time for the city's European Capital of Culture celebrations.

They have also heeded calls after an initial public exhibition in February to move the showpiece arena from near the Wapping flats to the Mersey riverfront to create a stunning riverside panorama.

The feedback also indicated support for a combined arena.

Plans for the new Kings Dock development will go on public display for four months from tomorrow at regeneration company Liverpool Vision's Observatory offices in the city's Old Haymarket.

Architects Wilkinson Eyre won the contract to design the £100m scheme in February and revealed a preliminary concept design showing a concert arena, conference centre, hotel development and public space at the Albert Dock end of the site.

Nearer Queens Dock at the southern end of the plot was a mixture of residential, leisure and office space.

But after consultation with Vision, council leaders, English Heritage and architectural experts Cabe, they revised their plan to show the combined Kings Waterfront Arena and Conference Centre which will be built on the banks of the Mersey.

Vision chief executive Jim Gill said today: "Public and private sector energies are now focusing very much on the waterfront with the aim of establishing it as a worldclass visitor destination.

"The Kings Dock Arena and Conference Centre is a hugely important component in that vision."

Council leader Mike Storey praised the revised plan: "We chose Wilkinson Eyre because we felt they were able to realise our ambitions for facilities.

"This will be a state-of-the-art venture providing performance, exhibition and conference space under one roof.

"It will be a world-class facility in a world-class destination," he added.

Land owner English Partnerships' area director Eliot Lewis-Ward added: "We have always been determined that the Kings Waterfront development would make a fine visual statement. The new concept images demonstrate how we aim to realise this goal."

And Chris Wilkinson, director with the architects, said: "The practice is fully aware of the importance of the waterfront to Liverpool and is tremendously excited by the opportunity to design a series of buildings within such a key historic setting. The project offers the opportunity to design truly world class, landmark structures in what is an internationally recognised setting." Regeneration chiefs believe it is vital to involve the public in the development process for Kings Dock.

North West Development Agency Merseyside manager Aidan Manley welcomed the four month 'On the Waterfront' exhibition: "The Kings Waterfront development will have a significant impact on the local economy and that of the north west as a whole, so it is crucial that we get it right and involve the local community at every step," he said.

"This innovative exhibition provides a great opportunity to allow the public to see these exciting plans for themselves, which will help to maintain Liverpool's status as a fantastic place to live, work and visit."

YOUR chance to see the Kings Dock of the future

NOW that architects Wilkinson Eyre have unveiled their Kings Dock scheme they hope to press on with the job of seeing it rise from the ground.

Tomorrow they submit their exciting plans for public consultation as part of the On The Waterfront exhibition at Liver-pool Vision's offices.

There will be a more detailed Kings Dock exhibition in May, showing a model of the development and computergenerated fly-throughs of the site.

The next stage will be the submission of the planning application later in the summer.

It is hoped that after site preparations, building work could begin in the second quarter of 2005 and be completed by 2008.

Sitting next to the high profile public facilities lies the private sector part of the scheme comprising the residential, office and leisure developments that will generate the funding enabling the entire Kings Dock scheme to pay for itself. Local

construction group David McLean was appointed to build this phase earlier this month by land owner English Partnerships.

The design of the high-rise residential blocks at the southern end of the scheme, near the Queens Dock Customs & Excise centre, is not finalised and their inclusion on the panoramic view is to show scale.

But bosses behind the Kings Dock plan say that this part of the project will be just as eyecatching and stunning as the conference and concert arena.

McLean's group business director Bill Addy said: "We are determined that we will deliver the truly world-class buildings that this waterfront demands."

The first steel to come out of the ground at Kings Dock will be on this end of the site with construction work set to start early next year.

* THE On The Waterfront exhibition will be open to the public from April 28 to August 27 at Liverpool Vision's offices in The Observatory, Old Haymarket.

It traces Liverpool's growth; the subsequent decline of its docks and their renaissance, including proposals for Kings Waterfront, Princes Dock, The Fourth Grace and The Pier Head.

For the first time, the exhibition brings together all the major projects designed to enhance Merseyside's standing and shows a unified vision for one of the most famous waterfronts in the world.

[Kev]

Source- Liverpool Echo...

THE people behind Liverpool's proposed multi-purpose arena and conference centre at Kings Dock will today spell out why they believe it is vital for the city and the region.

From Olympic hopefuls to captains of industry, there is overwhelming support for the £100m waterfront project.

The backing comes as the people of Liverpool are being invited to help shape the vision for one of Europe's premier development opportunities.

This morning, The Kings Waterfront exhibition will open at the Moat House Hotel, in Paradise Street, and this will be the final phase of an intensive programme of public consultation on the future development of the prestigious waterfront site.

The exhibition will feature the latest computer-generated images and fly-throughs, plans and models providing a vivid sense of how the Kings Waterfront would be transformed.

The exhibition will be officially opened by Sir Joe Dwyer, chairman of the city centre development company Liverpool Vision, along with Eliot Lewis-Ward, Merseyside area director for English Partnerships, who own the site, and Aidan Manley, Merseyside manager for the Northwest Development Agency.

Cllr Mike Storey, leader of Liverpool City Council, said: "Kings Waterfront will be a state-of-the-art venue providing performance, exhibition and conference space under one roof. It will be a world-class facility in a world-class destination."

Tom O'Brien, chief executive of the Mersey Partnership, added: "There is no doubt that we are in need of a multi-use arena and conference centre.

"The new venue will enable us to attract large-scale conferences. We look forward to the completion of the new venue which will put Liverpool firmly on the map as an internationally renowned conference destination."

Others who back the scheme include Stephen Roberts, chairman of the Hoteliers Association, who said: "The Kings Waterfront Conference Centre and Multi-use Arena is the single most important development for the future of Liverpool as a conference and tourist destination. It needs to happen."

Chris Wilkinson, of Wilkinson Eyre Architects, added: "We know the importance of the waterfront to Liverpool and are tremendously excited by the opportunity to design these buildings within such a key historic setting."

* THE exhibition at the Moat House is open 11am to 7pm today, tomorrow and Thursday, and between 10am and 3pm on Friday and Saturday.

[Sol]

www.liverpoolvision.co.uk/actiona5.html

[Kev]

A great link,cheers Sol!

Kev

[Kev]

£50m of European money will be used to make the Kings Dock dream a reality, it was announced today.

>>MORE

[Kev]

A LACK of car parking and too much housing emerged yesterday as the main concerns of Liverpool councillors over current plans for the development at Kings Dock.

With councillors freshly stung from the Fourth Grace collapse, they were in no mood to let the scheme's backers off lightly.

In four hours of evidence and questioning, the key questions to emerge included:

* Is the volume of residential homes on the site too big?

* Who will pick up the bill if the current costs of £142m escalate in similar fashion to the Cloud?

* Is a 1,500-seat conference arena and 10,000-seat arena big enough?

* Could the European element of the funding run out of time if the project is 'called in' for Government scrutiny?

* Is there enough car parking in the current plans?

* Who will own and operate the completed arena and conference centre?

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