# Royal Insurance Building, Liverpool > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Royal_Insurance_Building,_Liverpool > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Royal_Insurance_Building,_Liverpool.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Insurance_Building%2C_Liverpool > Source revision: 1295611060 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Not to be confused with [Royal Insurance Building, Queen Avenue, Liverpool](/source/Royal_Insurance_Building,_Queen_Avenue,_Liverpool). The **Aloft Liverpool Hotel**, formerly the **Royal Insurance Building**, is a historic building located at 1-9 North John Street, [Liverpool](/source/Liverpool), [Merseyside](/source/Merseyside), England. It was built as the head office of the [Royal Insurance](/source/Royal_Insurance) company. ## History The building was constructed between 1896 and 1903 as the head office of the Royal Insurance Company (since 1996 part of the [RSA Insurance Group](/source/RSA_Insurance_Group)). The design was the result of a competition won by [James F. Doyle](/source/James_Francis_Doyle) in 1895. The assessor for the competition was [Norman Shaw](/source/Richard_Norman_Shaw), who was retained as an advisory architect for the project, but it is uncertain what part he played in it.[1] The building is constructed around a steel frame and is the earliest example of this type of construction in the United Kingdom.[1][2] It ceased to be used by the late 1980s, and its condition deteriorated so much that it was placed on the [Buildings at Risk Register](/source/Heritage_at_Risk_Register) of [English Heritage](/source/English_Heritage).[3] In 2013 its freehold was bought by [Liverpool City Council](/source/Liverpool_City_Council), and it was converted into a hotel.[4] It opened as the **Aloft Liverpool Hotel** on 29 October 2014.[5] At the 20 years of the register, the renovation of the Royal Insurance Building was named as one of the successful rescues.[6] In 2021 Fragrance Group, a Singapore-based property business, bought the property together with the freehold title and continued to operate the hotel as Aloft Hotel by Marriott.[7] ## Architecture Constructed around a steel frame, the building is in [Portland stone](/source/Portland_stone), with a [granite](/source/Granite) basement and ground floor.[2] Its architecture is described as "sumptuous [Neo-Baroque](/source/Baroque) on the grandest scale".[1] The building is in four storeys with a basement and an attic. Its long front on North John Street has eleven [bays](/source/Bay_(architecture)), with three bays on Dale Street. The ground floor and basement are [rusticated](/source/Rustication_(architecture)). The windows are three-light [sash windows](/source/Sash_window) with round heads. Those on the first floor have [Gibbs surrounds](/source/Gibbs_surround) and iron balconies. On the second and third floors the windows are recessed behind a [Doric](/source/Doric_order) [colonnade](/source/Column) and [entablature](/source/Entablature). In the attic are [dormers](/source/Dormer). Some of these have [architraves](/source/Architrave), [keystones](/source/Keystone_(architecture)), and either segmental or triangular [pediments](/source/Pediment); the others are flat-topped and contain [casement windows](/source/Casement_window). The entrance is on the second bay from the left in North John Street. The doorway has Doric columns and is round-headed. The first floor contains a round-headed window surrounded by a [portico](/source/Portico) with a broken segmental pediment containing carved figures. Above this bay rises a three-stage [campanile](/source/Campanile) bearing an octagonal [cupola](/source/Cupola) with a [gilded](/source/Gilding) dome. On the Dale Street façade is a [Venetian window](/source/Palladian_architecture#Venetian_and_Palladian_windows).[2] The second floor contains a [frieze](/source/Frieze) designed by [C. J. Allen](/source/C._J._Allen_(sculptor)) depicting themes relating to insurance.[1] At the corners of this front are octagonal [turrets](/source/Turret_(architecture)) with cupolas and [finials](/source/Finial). Between the turrets at attic level are three round-headed windows with rusticated [Ionic](/source/Ionic_order) [pilasters](/source/Pilaster), an entablature, and an iron balcony.[2] The interior contains the former General Office on the ground floor which, because of the steel frame, is free from any columns. Above this, the former Board Room has a [tunnel vault](/source/Barrel_vault). Both rooms are decorated with [stucco](/source/Stucco) in 17th-century style.[1] The building is recorded in the [National Heritage List for England](/source/National_Heritage_List_for_England) as a designated [Grade II* listed](/source/Grade_II*_listed) building.[2] There is an earlier [Royal Insurance Building](/source/Royal_Insurance_Building,_Queen_Avenue,_Liverpool), dating from 1839, on nearby Queen Avenue, also Grade II* listed.[8] ## See also - [Architecture of Liverpool](/source/Architecture_of_Liverpool) - [Grade II* listed buildings in Liverpool – City Centre](/source/Grade_II*_listed_buildings_in_Liverpool_%E2%80%93_City_Centre) - [Grade II* listed buildings in Merseyside](/source/Grade_II*_listed_buildings_in_Merseyside) ## References 1. Pollard, Richard & Pevsner, Nikolaus (2006), *Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West*, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: [Yale University Press](/source/Yale_University_Press), p. 328, ISBN 0-300-10910-5 1. ["Number of heritage buildings at risk at new low"](https://liverpoolexpress.co.uk/number-of-heritage-buildings-at-risk-at-new-low/). *Liverpool Express*. 2 July 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2021. 1. ["Liverpool Royal Insurance building to be turned into hotel"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-22212670). *BBC News*. 19 April 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2013. 1. ["Liverpool's latest deluxe hotel Aloft opens and is sold out for its first weekend"](https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/liverpools-latest-deluxe-hotel-aloft-8018341). *Liverpool Echo*. 29 October 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2020. 1. ["Former Royal Insurance Building, Liverpool"](https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/heritage-at-risk/20-years/former-royal-insurance-building/). Historic England. Retrieved 1 January 2019. 1. ["Aloft Liverpool hotel sold to Fragrance Group..."](https://www.thecaterer.com/news/aloft-liverpool-hotel-sale-fragrance-group). *The Caterer*. 2021-12-06. Retrieved 2023-08-07. ## External links - [Official website](http://www.aloftliverpool.com/) - [Official chain website](http://www.starwoodhotels.com/alofthotels/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=3956) - [Liverpool Architecture](https://web.archive.org/web/20070110051907/http://www.liverpoolarchitecture.com/tours/buildings/building.php?id=31) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Royal Insurance Building, Liverpool](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Insurance_Building%2C_Liverpool) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Insurance_Building%2C_Liverpool?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.