Liverpool Architecture Tours: Walking Guide

Liverpool Walking Tours, Northern English Building Guides, Merseyside Architectural Walks, Architects

Liverpool Architecture Tours

Architecture Guides in Merseyside & Lancashire – Exclusive Northwest England Building Walks tailor made for Groups

post updated 1 January 2023

Contact e-architect for your Merseyside architecture guide: [email protected]

Liverpool Architecture Tours: Exclusive Guided Walks

Our Liverpool guided tours are all tailored to suit each booking, we do not allow for bookings to be joined. Our guided tours in Merseyside are all exclusive to each client.

If planning an office trip, a conference, or university trip in Merseyside please contact us to make a booking.

Museum of Liverpool building seen from across the River Mersey:
Museum of Liverpool building
photo © Philip Handforth

Liverpool Architecture Walking Tours

Liverpool Architecture – Introduction

Liverpool is located in the north west of England, on the River Mersey as it heads into the Irish Sea. The city is famous for historic architecture such as the Catholic and Anglican Cathedral buildings, for the Three Graces on the waterfront, and for the pioneering Oriel Chambers building.

Liverpool Architecture Tour in 2022 for groups from Hoare Lee:
Liverpool Architecture Walking Tour

Famous architects with buildings in the city include James Stirling, CR Cockerell, Gilbert Scott and Richard Norman Shaw. Other key architects with work in the city include 3XN, BDP, Wilkinson Eyre and Alfred Waterhouse.

Liverpool was European City of Architecture in 2008.

Bluecoat – Liverpool City Centre’s oldest building
Bluecoat Liverpool City Centre’s Oldest Building
photo from Bluecoat

The principal ares for visits are the waterfront, the area around St George’s Hall and Liverpool ONE. Typically our walking tours last two to three hours and cover these three locations in the city centre.

If you only have a day in the city our suggested architecture walking tour would take in The Three Graces, the new Museum of Liverpool by Danish architects 3XN, the Tate Liverpool by James Stirling, the historic Albert Dock, then back into the city throguh the new retail quarter of Liverpool ONE to the Bluecoat Gallery, then up to Lime Street Station, Northwestern Hotel by architect Alfred Waterhouse, the celebrated Assize Courts & St George’s Hall, Lime Street (by Harvey Lonsdale Elmes ; CR Cockerell, architect) and the Walker Art Gallery. The centre of Liverpool is quite compact and all the major hisotrical and contemporary buildings are visitable by walking.

Mann Island Liverpool
Mann Island Liverpool Architecture Tours
photo from architects

If your group has more than three hours then buildings such as Unity (2006, housing by AHMM) and the white Star Building (1898, by architects Richard Norman Shaw and J. Francis Doyle), BBC Radio building, Hanover Street by Glasgow architects PagePark, the unusual Bling Bling building, School Lane by London architects CZWG and the Foundation for Art & Creative Technology – FACT, RopeWalks (2003 by Austin-Smith:Lord) can be visited.

Liverpool Waters
Liverpool Architecture Tours - waterfront development
image courtesy of architects

If you have a full day or two days available then you should definitely see both cathedrals, Liverpool Anglican Cathedral building – Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool by English architect Giles Gilbert Scott and the Modern Liverpool Catholic Cathedral (also known as ‘Paddy’s Wigwam’) by the less well known Frederick Gibberd architect.

Plaza 1821 and Hive City Docks Liverpool Waters Building
Plaza 1821 Liverpool Architecture Tours
image from developer

Liverpool Walking Tours

Liverpool Architecture Tours can be arranged to meet your group’s needs, eg if you are mostly interested in contemporary architecture then e-architect can assist in preparing a suitable itinerary. Or perhaps you are interested in public realm, interiors or office buildings? If so our guides can tailor the architecture walking tour to show you the key examples.

Liverpool Walking Tours

Contact Isabelle Lomholt to arrange your architectural tour of Merseyside: mob. +44 (0)7952 149814 / isabelle(at)e-architect.com

Please make payments in full ahead of the architectural tour to ensure guides are engaged.

Liverpool Architecture : architectural news + key building projects
Bling Bling building Liverpool
picture © AW

Architecture Tours

Other than Liverpool, e-architect organise British architecture walking tours in other cities such as Cambridge, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and London. We also have walking tour guides outside Britain. Contact us today for your architectural walking tour.

Typical requests for this city combine two to three days spread across Manchester and Liverpool, frequently timed to coincide with a Premier League football match. We would recommend a minimum of one day to really appreciate the city. City walks typically involve an introduction to the historical centre – buildings such as St George’s Hall, the Oriel Chambers and the Town Hall, followed by a walk along the waterfront.

Notable buildings along the River Mersey range from the brick-built Victorian warehouses at Albert Dock and the elegant ‘Three Graces’ to the more contemporary Museum of Liverpool that was originally designed by celebrated Danish architecture office 3XN.

One of our favourites is the Titanic Hotel, which is quite a walk to the West of the city centre. The building has a massive scale and really impressive high spaces within. For visitors who like shopping the Liverpool ONE development is in the heart of the city, and includes buildings by some good architectural offices. Of course there are some more traditional tourist spots in the city, such as The Cavern where The Beatles once played, and Anfield, the home of Liverpool Football Club.

Architecture Walking Tours

Location: Liverpool, Merseyside, Northwest England, UK

European Building Tours – Selection

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Historic Liverpool Buildings

Anglican Cathedral Building
Design: Giles Gilbert Scott, Architect
Liverpool Cathedral Building

Catholic Cathedral Building
Frederick Gibberd architect
Liverpool Catholic Cathedral building
picture copyright AJW
Liverpool Catholic Cathedral

Liverpool Architecture Photos

Website: Architectural Walking Tours

English Architecture

English Architects

Comments / photos for the Liverpool Building Tours – Lancashire Architectural Guides page welcome