The commercial centre equates roughly to the boundary of the medieval town of Liverpool. At its heart stands Exchange Flags, on which most commercial activity was focussed during the period of prosperity and expansion. The principal streets are Castle Street, Water Street, Old Hall Street, Dale Street and Victoria Street. The first four are of ancient origin, though they were widened in the 18th and early 19th centuries; the last dates only from the 1860s. These streets contain the most important commercial premises. Subsidiary thoroughfares, often very narrow, are lined by warehouses, workshops and more functional building types. The streetscape of the area is exceptional, the result of careful planning of the main streets over three centuries and organic growth in the Cavern Quarter, the spectacular riverside topography, and the grandeur of its architecture and monuments.  

The Strand to Castle Street 

The eastern boundary of The Strand marks the original river's edge. From here the ground rises steeply to Castle Street, the city's commercial centre. In the 18th century the area was largely residential, but following a programme of street improvements, beginning with the widening of Castle Street in 1786, and a rapid increase in business activity, it was gradually abandoned to commerce. The Town Hall, built in 1754 as a combination of Assembly Rooms, Council Chamber and Exchange, provided a civic and commercial focus at the northern end of Castle Street, but the main driver for change was the construction of a new Exchange in 1808. This caused property values to rise sharply, and over time the area was wholly redeveloped for banks, shipping and insurance offices, and other prestigious commercial buildings. Before devastating war damage, Castle Street was twice the length, for it continued south as far as the Customs House, the great domed building by John Foster Jnr., which terminated the vista and provided a fitting counterpoint to the dome and portico of the Town Hall to the north. 

Unknown Cotton Rhyme mid-19th Century

"They bought themselves new traps and drags,

They smoked the best cigars,

And as they walked the Exchange Flags,

They thanked their lucky stars."

Liverpool Town Hall, Castle Street 

1749-54; 1789-92; 1795-1820

Grade I

The present Town Hall, Liverpool's finest Georgian building, is the result of three building campaigns. The original design was by John Wood of Bath, and was built in 1749-54. The work was supervised by his son John Wood the Younger. Additions and alterations were designed by James Wyatt and carried out by the elder John Foster in 1789-92; then, following a fire of 1795, it was reconstructed by Foster and Wyatt, the work continuing until c.1820. 

It was built originally as an Exchange, with an open arcade on the ground floor around a courtyard where business was conducted, and rooms for civic functions above. Wyatt added an extension to the rear, and his chaste Neo-Classical north elevation overlooking Exchange Flags contrasts with the Palladian character of Wood's earlier work, in particular the richly carved frieze to the east and west elevations, celebrating foreign trade. Wyatt's dome was added in 1802, and the Corinthian south portico in 1811. Surmounting the dome is a Coade Stone figure of Minerva or Britannia made by John Rossi in 1801-2.

John Prestwich, in General View of the Town ... of Liverpool, (c. 1780,) describes the Town Hall: 

"The Exchange is an elegant square edifice built of hewn stone with the front and one side only in view the rest being obscured by the houses which are built close to it ... Between the Capitals runs an Entablature or Fillet on which are placed in base relief the Busts of Blackamoors & Elephants with the Teeth of the Latter, with such like emblematical Figures, representing the African Trade & Commerce."

From the entrance hall, Wyatt's staircase rises under the dome. It leads to the magnificent first floor reception rooms. Overlooking Castle Street are three rooms with vaulted ceilings and refined decoration in the Wyatt manner. On the north side is the Large Ballroom with giant pilasters and an apsed niche for the band. The Dining Room has iron stoves and scagliola vases in imitation of porphyry. Most of the rooms have original chandeliers and furniture, and the whole ensemble is one of the best suites of civic rooms in the country. The interiors have been recently well restored and are in regular use. 

Bank of England, Castle Street 

1845-48

Grade I

In the mid 19th century the Bank of England built three branch banks - in Manchester, Liverpool and Bristol. All were designed by C.R. Cockerell, but Liverpool's is the largest and grandest. It is a monumental composition in a blend of Greek and Roman Doric, every element majestically and boldly scaled. At the front are three bays, divided by fluted columns, the whole flanked by massive rusticated corner piers, and raised up on a rough granite plinth. First and second floors are united by the giant order; the second floor is recessed below a wide broken pediment, and has at its centre a window framed by Ionic columns below a deep blank arcade. The Cook Street elevation has three Piranesian rusticated arched windows. The central one marks a tunnel vault, which runs through the original banking hall. It is a brilliant demonstration of the vigour that can be brought to the language of classical Orders without compromising its elemental structure and meaning. 

Norwich Union Building, Castle Street 

1846-7

Grade II

Standing next to the Bank of England, this building represents a more literal interpretation of the classical language than that developed by Cockerell. It takes the form of a temple front with four Corinthian columns and a pediment set above a tall ground floor. Somewhat overshadowed by its powerful neighbour, it is nonetheless an ambitious and successful commercial building.

48-50 Castle Street 
1864
Grade II
On either side of this building can be seen fragmentary remains of the late 18th century unified rebuilding of Castle Street in a plain classical style. The architect James Picton's replacement was originally the Mercantile and Exchange Bank and is a typically robust Victorian design with deeply set round arched openings. Above the first floor windows are a set of historical figures, emblematic of Liverpool's sense of importance. 

Trials Hotel, 60 Castle Street 
1868
Grade II
This building was originally built for the Alliance Bank and was later taken over by the North and South Wales Bank, which was one of the most successful provincial banks, catering for rural landowners, farmers and small businessmen, rather than the merchant class of the larger urban centres. Their first premises in Liverpool was the present Castle Moat House of 1841by Edward Corbett (listed Grade II) close by in Derby Square, but after thirty years, this became too small, and they moved to the imposing five storey corner building on Castle Street, designed by Lucy and Littler. It is a great mass of stone, enriched with a multitude of carved pilasters, cornices, balustrades, swags and rusticated arches, with prows of ships projecting from the spandrels of the second floor windows. The building has recently been converted to a hotel, and the opulent banking hall, faced in marble and mahogany serves as a public bar.

Adelphi Bank, Castle Street 

1890-92

Grade II*

One of the more exotic buildings onCastle Streetis the corner premises to Brunswick Street, erected for the Adelphi Bank to the design of W.D. Caroe. The façades combine bands of pink sandstone and pale grey granite, decorated in the manner of French and north European Renaissance architecture, mixed with Nordic and eastern European touches seen in the treatment of the dormers and onion dome. The bronze entrance doors by Thomas Stirling Lee, one of the principal sculptors to have worked on St George's Hall, with panel reliefs and statuettes on the theme of brotherly love, are of outstanding quality. 

National Westminster Bank, Castle Street 

1900

Grade II*

For their Liverpool head offices, the directors of Parr's Bank, one of the north west's leading banks, wanted something exceptional. Thus they went to Richard Norman Shaw with Willink and Thinknesse, who had just completed the striking White Star Line offices in James Street. They were not disappointed, for the building combines an unforgettable exterior with a plan of great functional clarity. The ground floor is occupied by a large circular banking hall, completely free from obstruction, lit by a shallow central dome. Above are piled lettable offices, supported on massive iron girders to avoid crushing the delicate vault of the banking hall below. The monumental classical façade relies on contrasts of colour, with bands of green and cream marble veneer interrupted by bright red terracotta window surrounds, all set above a two-storey granite plinth. Like Cockerell's Bank of England it was an uncompromising statement about the prestige of the bank rather than polite street architecture, and it greatly enhances the status of Castle Street. 

British and Foreign Marine Insurance Company Building, Castle Street 

c.1889

Grade II

This is one of several richly decorative late 19th century buildings designed by G.E. Grayson of Grayson and Ould at the northern end of Castle Street. The company's inscription can be seen above a colourful mosaic frieze by Salviati showing scenes of shipping. The Standard Marine Insurance Company had their offices on the opposite side of the street. 

Monument to Queen Victoria, Derby Square 

1902-06

Grade II

Built on the site of the old Liverpool castle and the 18th century St. George's Church, the monument to the Queen was intended to represent the spirit of patriotism of Liverpool's citizens, as well as the national self-confidence that Victoria's long reign had engendered. Designed by Professor F.M. Simpson of the Liverpool School of Architecture, with Willink and Thicknesse, the neo-Baroque monument of Portland stone provides a setting for sculptures by Charles Allen, including a colossal standing figure of the Queen, surrounded by allegorical groups recalling the achievements of her reign. 

Nelson Memorial, Exchange Flags

1813

Grade II*

The monument to Nelson was Liverpool's first piece of free-standing outdoor sculpture, and its chief instigator William Roscoe wanted a design of the highest artistic standard. The sculptor was Richard Westmacott, and the overall concept was by Matthew Cotes Wyatt. Funded by public subscription, its real purpose was to celebrate the growing prestige of Liverpool, and its location at the Exchange served to remind the city's merchants of the protection afforded to their commercial interests by Nelson's naval achievements. The memorial shows Nelson receiving the Trafalgar battle honour from Victory, whilst Death reaches out to touch him with a skeletal hand. Four shackled prisoners in poses of anguish and dejection represent the four great victories at Cape St Vincent, the Nile, Copenhagen and Trafalgar. 

Tower Buildings, Water Street 

1908

Grade II*

TheTower of Liverpool, a fortified house belonging to the Stanley family, Earls of Derby, was used by them as an embarkation base for their property in the Isle of Man. But by the end of the 18th century it was in disrepair and in 1819 was replaced by warehouses. In 1856 these were replaced by Tower Buildings, a large Italianate office block by J. A. Picton. The present Tower Buildings, completed around 1908, was designed by Aubrey Thomas, architect of the Royal Liver Building. It is similarly inventive, being one of the earliest steel-framed buildings in the country. The staircases are constructed on steel joists cantilevered out from the walls, thus removing the need for cranked strings, and the roofs, floors and partition walls are formed of reinforced hollow clay bricks. The building is clad in white Doulton terracotta in an attempt to cope with the polluted atmosphere of the city, and its facades, being largely undecorated, appear strikingly modern for its date. 

Oriel Chambers, Water Street 

1864

Grade I

Designed by Peter Ellis, Oriel Chambers is a building remarkably ahead of its time. The rationale for the oriel windows with their maximum area of glass was a desire to provide good daylight. The oriels on the Water Street and Covent Garden elevations are separated by tall stone mullions, carved with nailhead decoration, and designed to look like cast iron. But the oriels themselves are framed in the thinnest sections of iron, and in the courtyard behind, the glazing forms a curtain wall, cantilevered out beyond the line of the frame. In its frank expression of function and technology it anticipated by 20 years the commercial buildings of Chicago and New York. In its day, the building aroused much opposition. The Builder called it a "vast abortion" and an "agglomeration of protruding plate glass bubbles". Ellis's known only other commercial building, that is known to survive is No. 16, Cook Street, of two years later. In its stripped aesthetic, it too is startlingly modern. 

India Buildings, Water Street 

1924-31

Grade II

This immense office block was built for the Blue Funnel Line at a cost of £1,250,000 and designed by Herbert J Rowse with Briggs, Wostenholme and Thorneley. Rowse won the commission in competition, and it launched his career. Occupying a whole block between Water Street and Brunswick Street, it has stripped classical facades of great dignity and refinement, typical of North American architecture of the 1920s, with which Rowse was familiar. Italian Renaissance detail is restricted to the top and bottom storeys. A barrel vaulted arcade flanked by shops runs through the centre of the ground floor, another American feature. The building was badly damaged in the war, and restored under Rowse's supervision. 

Barclays Bank (formerly Martins Bank), Water Street 

1927-32

Grade II*

On the opposite side of Water Street to India Buildings is Barclay's Bank, originally Martin's Bank, also designed by Rowse. It is similarly monumental and American influenced. The stylish top lit banking hall, with its Parisian jazz moderne fittings, survives well, as does the boardroom. Sculpture and carvings by Herbert Tyson Smith with Edmund Thompson and George Capstick celebrate maritime themes as well as money. 

General Accident Building, 

Water Street

c.1895 and c.1930

Grade II

The architecture of the Italian Renaissance appealed to 19th century Liverpool bankers, for its association of commerce with learning. This building, part of which was erected as headquarters of the Bank of Liverpool is one of the most distinguished of several banks erected in the manner of Italian palazzi. The banking hall on the ground floor extends into a lower block occupying the courtyard space that would be found in a true palazzo, whilst a screen of six giant fluted Doric columns framed by angle pilasters gives emphasis to the floors above. The huge bronze entrance doors are furnished with panthers' heads with open jaws and ferocious teeth.

Heywood's Bank, Brunswick Street 

c.1800

Grade II

This is the earliest surviving bank building inLiverpool, and one of the first purpose-built banks in the country. It was erected for Arthur Heywood in an austere but refined classical style, with a rusticated ground floor and central entrance. The family's original house is attached at the side. 

White Star Building (AlbionHouse), James Street 

1898

Grade II*

Thomas Ismay, proprietor of the White Star Line, commissioned Richard Norman Shaw to design new headquarters for the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company in 1894. Shaw had already built Dawpool, the great tragically demolished house, overlooking theDeeestuary at Thurstaston for Ismay in 1882-86. The White Star Building was the first of the new breed of giant office blocks built in the city. For the exterior, Shaw reworked his design for New Scotland Yard, facing the building in contrasting bands of brick and Portland stone, set on a granite base. The interior is especially remarkable for its raw display of iron girders, stanchions and jack arches lined with fireproof bricks, with all the rivets and bolts emphasised for effect, although it is currently hidden by suspended ceilings and partition   walls. This would not have been possible in London where regulations required the cladding of structural   ironwork for fire safety, but under Liverpool's more commercial and laissez-faire regimen, such restrictions were not applied. 

Hargreaves Building, Chapel Street 

1859

Grade II

Sir James Picton, prominent local politician and historian of Liverpool, was a prolific architect. His buildings are characterised by a robust and eclectic classicism. Hargreaves Building, in the manner of a Venetian palazzo is one of his finest. In the roundels above the deeply recessed round arched windows of the first floor are busts depicting figures connected with the history of South America. Until its demolition in 1967 there was a yet finer palazzo-style building by Picton, Richmond Buildings, on the opposite side of the street. Fragments of it can be seen in the first floor entrance hall of the modern development that stands on the site. 

Mersey Chambers, St Nicholas' Churchyard 

1877

Grade II

Mersey Chambers was built for the Harrison Shipping Line, and designed by G.E. Grayson. It fronts the churchyard, which was laid out as a public garden in 1891 in memory of James Harrison, a partner in the company. The rear elevation to Covent Garden is a functional design with rows of oriel windows to admit maximum light. Inside, the offices are arranged around a glazed court. There is a splendid panelled boardroom of around 1920, in classical style. 

Dale Street 

Dale Street was first improved in 1786-90 after Castle Street had been widened. It was the principal route into and out of the town from London and Manchester. Present side streets such as Hackins Hey show how narrow it originally was. The north side was taken down in the 1820s and set back, whilst at the same time a new street was formed at the east end opposite Hatton Garden to link with St John's Lane, and was called Manchester Street. This avoided all traffic being taken up the steep ascent of Shaw's Brow. Commercial building began at the western end, around the Exchange with the Queen's Insurance Building of 1839 and the Liverpool and London Globe Insurance Building of 1855-57, but as the century progressed, the buildings became increasingly large and imposing. 

Queen Insurance Building, Dale Street 

1837-39

Grade II

Built for the Royal Bank, this was one of the earliest developments in Liverpool to include the provision of separate speculative offices for letting. The architect was Samuel Rowland. It has a grand classical façade to Dale Street with a giant order of Corinthian columns and a tall balustraded cornice bearing the Royal Coat of Arms. A central passageway leads to Queen's Avenue which is lined by shops and offices, and thence to Castle Street. The bank proper was the building at the end of Queen Avenue. 

Liverpool and London Globe Insurance Building, Dale Street 

1855-58

Grade II*

For the design of its new head offices, the Liverpool and London Globe Insurance Company commissioned C.R. Cockerell, architect of the Bank of England. One of Liverpool's most distinguished office buildings, its design is similarly bold. At its heart was an atrium, originally glazed (though now built over), which provided access and light to the offices that surrounded it. The frontage block to Dale Street was used by the insurance company, whilst the three blocks set behind were designed to be individually let to commercial tenants. The main entrance is a tour-de-force, consisting of a pedimented portico within a rusticated arch, surmounted by a boldly festooned cornice. It is so large that it intrudes on the first floor windows as though designed for a larger and more monumental building. 

State Insurance Building, Dale Street 

1906

Grade II

What remains of the State Insurance Building is only one half of the original premises, which extended as far as North John Street. The architect was Aubrey Thomas who used the Gothic language in a free flowing manner to produce a composition that is almost Art Nouveau. Behind the façade is a galleried atrium with a glass roof, originally used as a restaurant, around which the offices are arranged. 

Union Marine Buildings, Dale Street 

1859

Grade II

A typically strong and eclectic design by Sir James Picton, this building erected for the Queen Insurance Company has large round-arched windows with marble panels set between them and a massive projecting cornice with rope mouldings and machicolations.

Rigby's Buildings

c.1850

Grade II

The property carries the date 1726, but the present building is probably no earlier than 1850. It was given a decorative stucco facing in 1865. This commercial building lacks the crispness of detail that others in the street possess, but the main façade is no less elaborate in its profusion of pediments, balconies and decorated architraves, all in the manner of a grand Italian palazzo.

Royal Insurance Building, Dale Street 

1897-1903

Grade II*

On a strategic site at the corner of Dale Street and North John Street, the Royal Insurance Buildingis one of the finest of Liverpool's giant early 20th century office blocks. The architect, J. Francis Doyle, was selected by competition, the assessor being Norman Shaw, with whom Doyle had worked on the design of the White Star Building. Its Edwardian Baroque façade of granite and Portland stone conceals a revolutionary steel structure, possibly the earliest use of a steel frame in Britain. To provide a ground floor space unencumbered by columns, the upper floors are hung from great steel arches, braced to the structure above. Above the main entrance is a tower with a sundial and a gilded dome that glints over the city skyline, and the roof is crowded with dormers and massive chimneys. A frieze of sculpted panels by C.J. Allen at second floor level shows characters engaged in the world of insurance. Doyle had assimilated the style of Shaw and the gable to Dale Street with its corner turrets is taken directly from the White Star Building. But it is a wonderfully assured design, a supreme example of a prestige national headquarters, unashamedly intended to impress. 

The Temple, Dale Street 

1864-65

Grade II

Adjoining the Royal Insurance Buildingis the Temple, designed by Sir James Picton for Sir William Brown in an Italianate style. The round arched entranceway set below a large turret leads to an open arcade. Brown was one of four sons of the Irish merchant Alexander Brown and in the coat of arms above the main entrance can be seen four hands clasped together and the motto 'Harmony becomes brothers'. 

Prudential Assurance Building, Dale Street 

1885-86 and 1905

Grade II

The architect Alfred Waterhouse provided the Prudential with an unmistakeable corporate style in red pressed brick and terracotta. Liverpool's 'Pru' is one of the largest and most imposing, made all the more so by the tower added by his son Paul in 1905. 

Imperial Chambers, Dale Street 

c.1872

Grade II

This building and the adjoining Muskers Buildings are in the Gothic style, more frequently used in Manchester for commercial buildings than in Liverpool. The central office entrance leads to a glass-roofed atrium crossed by iron bridges. 

Municipal Annexe, Dale Street 

1882-83

Grade II

Built as the Conservative Club and designed by F. and G. Holme, the building provided its wealthy members with three floors of palatial reception rooms, private dining rooms, card and billiard rooms. It was taken over for municipal offices between the two world wars, though the Conservatives remained the dominant political party in Liverpool until the 1960s. 

Municipal Buildings, Dale Street 

1862-68

Grade II*

A large municipal office block with a great public atrium, this splendid building was erected to accommodate the growing army of Corporation clerks required to control the activities of the town. It was started by the Corporation Surveyor, John Weightman, and completed by his successor E.R. Robson in 1866. Designed in a hybrid mixture of French and Italian Renaissance styles, it has at its centre a tower with a curious steeply pitched stone roof, based on C.H. Barry's Halifax Town Hall. 

Westminster Chambers, Dale Street 

1880

Grade II

A large office building with integral workshops and warehouses, designed by Richard Owens for David Roberts, Son and Co., whose monogram can be seen on the exterior. The greater part of the building fronting Dale Street and Crosshall Street was used as shops and offices, whilst the Preston Street side contained four warehouses each with a recessed loading bay. The offices are given an elaborate stone Gothic front, in contrast to the plain brick of the warehouses.

City Magistrates Court, Dale Street 

1857-59

Grade II

Built shortly before Municipal Buildings on the opposing side of Dale Street stands the City Magistrates Court, also designed by John Weightman. It is a plain symmetrical block in smooth ashlar with a carriage entrance originally enabling the magistrates to make a dignified approach to the courts. To the rear of the Courts is the Main Bridewell, a suitably austere building, erected in 1864 to Weightman's design, and listed Grade II. 

135-139 Dale Street 

late 18th century

Grade II

A terrace of late Georgian houses, this was built to conform with the late 18th century widening of Dale Street, the most impressive being the corner property No. 139. This was built for John Houghton, a distiller, whose works were situated nearby. Above the entrance on Trueman Street is a splendid Adam-style Venetian window. 

Old Hall Street 

The Old Hall after which the street was named survived until the 1820s when the street was widened. Warehouses and offices started to replace residences after this date. When the Exchange was erected in 1808, a labyrinth of courtyards and alleyways with densely built housing was cleared away. The construction of the Cotton Exchange in 1906 moved the centre of gravity of commercial activity to the area.

The Albany Building, Old Hall Street 

1856

Grade II*

The Albany was built as speculative offices by Richard Naylor, a wealthy banker and Liverpool philanthropist, and designed by J.K. Colling. It combines three storeys of cellular offices with basement shops and warehousing. Adopting the form of an Italian palazzo, with a central courtyard, in style it is free Renaissance. But it is given special distinction by highly individual ornamentation based on Colling's passion for naturalistic plant forms and foliated decoration. Natural light is admitted to the building via top-lit glazed corridors. The building was much used by cotton brokers for whom the courtyard served as a meeting place, whilst the quality of light in the offices provided good conditions for the examination of cotton samples. 

Cotton Exchange, Old Hall Street 

1906

Grade II

The magnificent Edwardian frontage of the Cotton Exchange, designed by Matear and Simon, was demolished in the 1960s, one of Liverpool's most tragic post-war losses, although the polished granite columns survive inside. Only the side and rear elevations remain. That to Edmund Street is of cast iron, made by the Macfarlane foundry. The eroded sculpture on Old Hall Street represents the River Mersey, and a further two in the courtyard represent Navigation and Commerce, and were salvaged from the original frontage. Orleans House in Bixteth Street, also by Matear and Simon, and listed Grade II*, uses a similar structural and cladding system to the Cotton Exchange, evidence of Liverpool's continuing development of cast iron for building construction. 

City Building 

1906

Grade II

A mid-19th century sugar warehouse on the corner of Fazakerley Street was refaced by Frederick Fraser with a skin of cast iron and glass. In its minimalist detail and sweeping curve of glass, it prefigures the International Style modernism of the 1920 and 30s. 

Victoria Street 

In the 1860s a new street was cut through the centre of the city to aid east-west communication. Victoria Street and the streets running off it were subsequently developed with large new buildings combining office accommodation and warehousing. Generally these were built speculatively and provided storage for several different companies. Less celebrated than Castle Street or Dale Street, Victoria Street none the less preserves its 19th century character largely unaltered. 

Fowler's Building, Victoria Street 

1865-69

Grade II*

The first substantial new building on Victoria Street was Fowler's Building, designed by Sir James Picton for the Fowler Brothers, international dealers in foodstuffs. The frontage block of stone with polished granite columns housed the company offices, whilst behind it is a larger area of brick warehousing, part of which was reputedly used as a fish smokery. 

Ashcroft Building, Victoria Street 

1883

Grade II

This corner building was erected for a billiard table manufacturer to the design of Hoult and Wise. It had a restaurant in the basement with offices and workshops above. A flat roof area was used for storing timber and slate for the billiard tables.

Union House, Victoria Street 

1882

Grade II

This five storey building has a conventional stone elevation with polished granite columns to Victoria Street. Fronting Progress Placeis a cast iron and glass façade containing an iron staircase and inside the entrance there is a plaster frieze illustrating the shipping of tea. 

Head Post Office, Victoria Street 

1899

Unlisted

This great General Post Office building was one of the earliest to be designed by Sir Henry Tanner, Chief Architect in the Office of Works. It lost its upper floor after war damage. Although it has not been used as a post office since the 1970s, it remains an impressive feature of the street.

Jerome Buildings and Carlisle Buildings, Victoria Street 

1883 and 1885

Grade II

This pair of matching buildings, designed by John Clarke, combine offices, shops and warehousing. The fanciful Gothic fronts with their pyramidal dormers and carvings of mythological beasts contrast with the plain backs punctuated by loading bays.

Granite Buildings, Stanley Street 

c.1882

Grade II

One of the most striking commercial buildings in the city centre is Granite Buildings, so called because of its austere façade of granite. The architect G.E. Grayson is better known for more decorative and conventional buildings such as those in brick and stone at the northern end of Castle Street. The rear of the building forms a row of gabled warehouses used originally for the storage of fruit, and faced in white glazed brick. 

The Conservation Centre (former Midland Railway Goods Office), Whitechapel

1874, extended 1878

Grade II

Designed for the Midland Railway, this powerful building was designed by William Culshaw and Henry Sumners. The main façade to Crosshall Street follows the convex curve of the street. On the Victoria Streetfrontage are carved panels with coats of arms and the names of Midland Railway stations. The building was converted as the Conservation Centre for NMGM and opened in 1995. It now contains conservation studios and museum workshops, and is open to the public for displays, guided tours and demonstrations. 

Central Buildings, North John Street 

1884

Grade II

This huge office building was designed by Thomas C. Clarke with a symmetrical street frontage. The upper floors rest on a tall colonnade of polished granite Doric columns with plate glass set behind.

18-22 North John Street 

1828

Grade II

This building has a dated rainwater head of 1828. Built as speculative offices with shops on the ground floor, it appears to be one of the earliest surviving office buildings in Liverpool. Like most of the pre-Victorian buildings in the area, it is faced in stucco rather than stone. The adjoining Harrington Chambers, with a slightly more elaborate facade, is of similar date.