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Temple Lane, LIVERPOOL, L2 5BB

Mightily impressive Baroque, its blocky forms and vertical accents, notably the main gold-domed tower, conveying loftiness and grandeur. The building is actually long and thin, but one doesn't get that impression. One of the earliest steel frames in the country is clad in grey granite and Portland stone. By James F. Doyle, 1896-1903. Richard Norman Shaw was cited as "advisory architect", but, Pevsner comments, "his contribution is unclear" (the turrets appear to owe something to him, e.g. Image]). Grade II* listed. Having fallen into dereliction in recent years, a plan has recently been approved to convert it to a hotel.

One of Liverpool's seven ancient streets, and perhaps its most consistently architecturally rich. Quite a few buildings vie for attention: the gold-domed tower of Image], the octagonal tower of the Temple, the injection of red courtesy of Image], and the pyramidal tower of Image

How to identify architects, no. 17. If a building is Victorian, was built for the Prudential Assurance and is very red, then the architect was almost certainly Alfred Waterhouse. The first two conditions will suffice in most cases. In many cases his son, Paul, will have been involved later. Here, dad built the original in 1886, before son enlarged, including adding the tower, in 1904-06. Brick and terracotta. Above the entrance is an elaborately-corbelled oriel window. Grade II listed.

This red brick and terracotta building of 1885-6 is Grade II listed, see https://www.historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1068278

Originally the Royal Insurance Building, this Grade II building on the corner of North John Street is now a hotel.

This one is a bit higher up than the one I spotted earlier http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3074554 Mind you I was on an open topped bus! Whatever you do, don't tell Richard.

Liverpool Town Hall from Castle Street. The present Town Hall is the third to have been built on or near this site. The first was built in 1515, the second in 1673 and the present building, one of the oldest in Liverpool, in 1754 based on a design by John Wood of Bath. It was gutted by fire in 1794 but was restored. On top of the dome sits a 10ft high statue of Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, covered in gold leaf, designed by Felix Rossi, who was sculptor to George IV.

Built as the Reform Club. A refined and unusually restrained Victorian composition. Red brick with emphasis on the central bay, pairs of granite columns framing the entrance, and a first-floor wrought-iron balustrade. By Edmund Kirby, 1879. Grade II listed. Now known as Trident House, it houses a nightclub (the Funky Box) in the basement, shops at ground floor and offices above.