Tobacco warehouse, Stanley Dock, Liverpool (2)

Image: © Stephen Richards Taken: 14 Aug 2016

Stanley Dock's main warehouse is literally awesome, surely one of the brick wonders of the world, a magnificent industrial temple. Its vast hulk is such that it appears vast even from across the Mersey, as seen here. What elevates it from simply being a stupendously massive brick box is the detailing around the cornice, high up "above the snow line", Pevsner quotes from Osbert Lancaster (e.g. Image], Image], Image]). Its magnificence is mysteriously enhanced by its present state of dereliction, perhaps because it evokes a sense that the building defies modern development, that it cannot be tamed by conversion into the usual warehouse apartments and chain restaurants.* It was built c1897-1901 to the designs of Anthony George Lyster, Chief Engineer of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, with John Arthur Berrington responsible for the decorative flourishes. The building's thirteen storeys rise through 125 feet and cover an area of 36 acres. The 27 million bricks used to build it made it reputedly the largest brick building in the world at the time. It is also fire-proof, with concrete and steel floors, and cast-iron columns. Grade II listed. *This is probably romantic twaddle as when I visited in 2016, the insides were being cleared, presumably in preparation for aforementioned conversion. However, one challenge the building does throw up is that the floors are only around seven feet high because "the 77,000 casks were stored in single tiers to avoid breakage".

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