The former Royal Insurance Building is located on the corner of Dale Street and North John Street in Liverpool city centre.
Royal Insurance Building, now the Aloft Hotel, is a Grade II* historic listed building. It was designed by James Francis Doyle and built between 1896 and 1903 as the head office of the Royal Insurance company.
The Grade II* listed description given by Historic England can be seen at the following link: (
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The design was the result of a competition won by James Francis Doyle in 1895. The assessor for the competition was Norman Shaw, who was retained as an advisory architect for the project.
The building of Portland stone is constructed around a steel frame and is one of the earliest examples of this type of construction in the United Kingdom.
By the late 1980s, the building was no longer being used and its condition deteriorated so much that it was placed on the Buildings at Risk Register of English Heritage.
In 2013 the freehold of the building was bought by Liverpool City Council, and it was converted it into a hotel.
It opened on 29th October 2014 as the Aloft Liverpool Hotel.
A report about the proposed hotel written by David Bartlett appeared in the Liverpool Echo on 22nd April 2013, and reads as follows;
'Boutique hotel to open in derelict landmark building in Liverpool'"A BOUTIQUE-style hotel will open in a derelict landmark building in Liverpool.
Trendy hotel Aloft, part of the Le Meridien group run by Starwood will open a 4-star hotel in the former Royal Insurance Building at the corner of Dale Street and North John Street.
Last month the ECHO revealed how Liverpool council had bought the building.
The local authority has now revealed it paid £1.95m for the building.
Runcorn developers Ashall will now spend £18m creating the 116 bedroom hotel in the Grade II listed building.
The building, famous for its gold dome, featured in the ECHO’s Stop The Rot campaign and is on national ‘At Risk’ register after having sat derelict for 20 years.
Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson said: “The Royal Insurance building is an important landmark in the heart of our city, with outstanding architectural and historical value.
“It has lain derelict for too long and we are determined to bring it back into meaningful use.
“It’s a great example of how we are working with the private sector to attract new investment, preserve our heritage and reduce the number of buildings at risk in our city, while boosting our hotel offer.”
Launched in 2008, Aloft Hotels rank among TripAdvisor’s ‘Top 25 Trendiest Hotels in the US and around the world.’
It was created with the aim of shaking up the traditional mid-market hotel sector, they feature urban-influenced, modern design at an affordable price.
Aloft Liverpool will feature the brand’s signature high ceilings, oversized windows, comfortable platform beds, walk-in showers and atmospheric public spaces. It will also offer creative spaces for meetings and presentations.
Ashall aims to start work next month in early May, with a completion date towards the end of 2014.
The conversion scheme for the building has been designed by Liverpool architect Falconer Chester Hall (FCH). Balfour Beatty is the main contractor.
English Heritage are supporting the scheme with a grant of £297,500.
Roeland Vos, President, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, said: “We are delighted to debut our first Starwood hotel in Liverpool.
“We see great opportunities to grow our Aloft portfolio in markets such as the UK where there is a strong demand for affordable yet stylish, cutting-edge hotel brands.”
Mark Ashall, director at Ashall Property, said it had been a highly challenging project.
He said: “FCH has designed a scheme which complements and preserves the great heritage of this property and we are both excited and proud to have the opportunity to regenerate an iconic building and provide Liverpool with a vibrant, design-led hotel complete with restaurant and meeting space.”
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