Albion House (also known as "30 James Street" or the ''White Star Building'') is a

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

building located in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England. 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 ...

History

architect 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 ...

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 line. Founded out of the remains of a defunct Packet trade, packet company, it gradually grew to become one of the most prominent shipping companies in the world, providing passenger and cargo service ...

. After White Star merged with Royal Mail Line, the headquarters remained at Albion House until 1934, at which time the British Government forced the merger of

Cunard Line The Cunard Line ( ) is a British shipping and an international cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its four ships have been r ...

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 geological formation (formally named the Portland Stone Formation) dating to the Tithonian age of the Late Jurassic that is quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. The quarries are cut in beds of whi ...

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 the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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.

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 London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...

building in London. In the 1980s, the offices in Albion House were noted for their exquisite 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, ...

as a designated

building.

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

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links