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Albion House (also known as "30 James Street" or the ''White Star Building'') is a
After many years being vacant, in 2014 the building was converted into a Titanic-themed hotel known as 30 James Street.
Opened by Signature Living in 2014 the Grade II-listed 30 James Street Hotel, formerly the headquarters of Titanic owners White Star, now has a new operator.
On Jun 23, 2020 A new hotel operator is to take over the running of Liverpool's 30 James Street Hotel with original owner Signature Living now out of the picture.
However, in the last few weeks the hotel was placed in receivership and now receivers Julian Clarke and Matthew Nagle of Savills have announced that another operator, Legacy Hotels, will take over the business.
Legacy Hotels is already well known in the city, operating the Pullman Hotel on the waterfront and opening a Novotel at the new Paddington Village near the University of Liverpool. It currently operates a portfolio of hotels across the UK and Europe.
The new operators are seeking to preserve as many of existing jobs as possible despite what they describe as the “challenging” economic situation brought about by the UK's Covid-19 related lockdown
The design closely follows the architect's earlier work of 1887, the former
English Heritage National Monuments Register
Image (p5), New Scotland Yard, for comparison
{{Authority control Grade II* listed buildings in Liverpool Richard Norman Shaw buildings Grade II* listed hotels
Grade II*
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
located in Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. It was constructed between 1896 and 1898 and is positioned on the corner of James Street and The Strand across from the Pier Head
The Pier Head (properly, George's Pier Head) is a riverside location in the city centre of Liverpool, England. It was part of the former Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City UNESCO World Heritage Site, which was inscribed in 2004, but revoked in ...
.
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History
Designed byarchitect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
s Richard Norman Shaw
Richard Norman Shaw RA (7 May 1831 – 17 November 1912), also known as Norman Shaw, was a British architect who worked from the 1870s to the 1900s, known for his country houses and for commercial buildings. He is considered to be among the g ...
and J. Francis Doyle, it was built for the Ismay, Imrie and Company shipping company, which later became the White Star Line
The White Star Line was a British shipping company. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually rose up to become one of the most prominent shipping lines in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between t ...
. After White Star merged with Royal Mail Line
The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was a British shipping company founded in London in 1839 by a Scot, James MacQueen. The line's motto was ''Per Mare Ubique'' (everywhere by sea). After a troubled start, it became the largest shipping group ...
the headquarters remained at Albion House until 1934 at which time the British Government forced the merger of Cunard Line and White Star Line. The building is situated on the corner of The Strand and James Street. The facade is constructed from white Portland stone
Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...
and red brick. In 1912, when news of the disaster of the ''Titanic'' reached the offices, the officials were too afraid to leave the building, and instead read the names of the deceased from the balcony. During World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the gable was damaged and was later rebuilt in the late 1940s.
After many years being vacant, in 2014 the building was converted into a Titanic-themed hotel known as 30 James Street.
Opened by Signature Living in 2014 the Grade II-listed 30 James Street Hotel, formerly the headquarters of Titanic owners White Star, now has a new operator.
On Jun 23, 2020 A new hotel operator is to take over the running of Liverpool's 30 James Street Hotel with original owner Signature Living now out of the picture.
However, in the last few weeks the hotel was placed in receivership and now receivers Julian Clarke and Matthew Nagle of Savills have announced that another operator, Legacy Hotels, will take over the business.
Legacy Hotels is already well known in the city, operating the Pullman Hotel on the waterfront and opening a Novotel at the new Paddington Village near the University of Liverpool. It currently operates a portfolio of hotels across the UK and Europe.
The new operators are seeking to preserve as many of existing jobs as possible despite what they describe as the “challenging” economic situation brought about by the UK's Covid-19 related lockdown
Architecture
The design closely follows the architect's earlier work of 1887, the former New Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London' ...
building in London. In the 1980s, the Offices in Albion House were noted for their exquisite Office desks of fine wood. The entrance to the building at James Street has a fine mosaic of South America set into the floor, also near the James Street entrance inside Albion House was a wooden war memorial listing the members of staff who "Gave their lives for their country" in the 1914-18 War.
Albion House is recorded in the National Heritage List for England
The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, an ...
as a designated Grade II* listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.
See also
*Grade II* listed buildings in Merseyside
There are over 20,000 Grade II* listed buildings in England. This page is a list of these buildings in the county of Merseyside.
Knowsley
Liverpool
...
*Architecture of Liverpool
The architecture of Liverpool is rooted in the city's development into a major port of the British Empire.Hughes (1999), p10 It encompasses a variety of architectural styles of the past 300 years, while next to nothing remains of its medieval ...
References
External links
English Heritage National Monuments Register
Image (p5), New Scotland Yard, for comparison
{{Authority control Grade II* listed buildings in Liverpool Richard Norman Shaw buildings Grade II* listed hotels