The focal point of the waterfront is the trio of buildings at the Pier Head- the Royal Liver Building, the Cunard Building and the Port of Liverpool Building.
Collectively, they are the instantly recognisable image of Liverpool, particularly The Royal Liver Building with the two copper Liver birds perched on top of the towers. Together with the open space of the Pier Head, they comprise one of the most impressive waterfronts in the world. 

The Pier Head group of buildings dominate the waterfront as seen from the opposite bank of the river, or as one approaches Liverpool by ship. The three buildings are set in the context of great warehouses to the north and south, the intensity of commercial buildings to the east and the two    cathedrals beyond on the skyline, but their huge scale and extrovert character command instant attention. Their plots    were created at the beginning of the 20th century as a result of municipal enterprise to improve the river frontage. Each building stands on a separate plot, and is expressed in a    different architectural style, rich in symbolic ornamentation. Together they combine impressively to form a group of outstanding presence. 

Royal Liver Building 
1908-11 
Listed Grade I 
The head offices of the Royal Liver Friendly Society, which had its origins as a mid-19th century burial club was designed by Aubrey Thomas. It is notable as one of Britain's first multi-storey reinforced concrete framed buildings. Stylistically unique in England, it is more akin to the early tall buildings of America such as the Allegheny Court House (1884) by H. H. Richardson and the Garrick (formerly Schiller) Theatre by Adler and Sullivan, with eclectic Baroque, art nouveau and Byzantine influences in its modelling.   

It has nine bays to the principal frontages and thirteen bays on the secondary return sides and the ground and first floors are deeply rusticated. The top floor steps back behind a Doric colonnade, taking advantage of the technical possibilities offered by its reinforced concrete structure. 

The roof is piled up with turrets and domes in receding stages and the clock towers have copper Liver Birds on top, by George Cowper and the Bromsgrove Guild. The two birds face away from each other, one towards the river and the other towards the city. The poses are traditional, the birds stand with half-upraised wings, each carrying a sprig of seaweed in its beak. The birds are 18 ft high, their heads are 31/2 ft long, the spread of the wings is 12 ft, their length is 10 ft and the legs are 2ft in circumference. Their bodies and wings are of moulded and hammered copper fixed on a steel armature. 

Although there are Liver Birds on many buildings in Liverpool, it is the two which roost on top of this building that are the biggest in the city and which to many people are the very identity of Liverpool.   

Cunard Building 
1913-1916 
Grade II* 
This substantial building was built as the offices of the Cunard Shipping company to the designs of Willink and Thicknesse, with Arthur Davis (of Mewes and Davis) as consultant. Its proportions, unadorned silhouette, rusticated and battered plinth, bold projecting cornice and solid parapet give it the form of an Italian palazzo. However, its multi-storey form, and its elevations, decorated with French classical details are derived from American beaux-arts buildings such as those of McKim Mead and White in New York. It is also remarkable for its symbolism expressed in trophies of conflict and peace, for the building was erected during the First World War, and the portraits of races from around the world, symbolising the global operations of the company. The Cunard Building has six storeys plus a basement, nine bays to the two principal elevations and seventeen bays to the marginally secondary elevations.   

The centre bays of the ground floor project to form monumental entrances, each one enhanced by massive panelled oak doors, engaged fluted columns, stone paneled reveals and stone coffered ceilings. The east frontage onto the Strand is further pronounced by its dramatic approach up a flight of stone stairs, flanked by a pair of bronze lamps with fluted columns, claw feet, acanthus leaf shields on huge stone plinths.   

Inside, there is an ornate principal corridor linking Brunswick Street and Water Street. It has a black and white marble floor, a coffered ceiling and a twin flight staircase. The former first class passenger waiting room on the river side of the building has appropriately high quality fittings and the board room has a commanding position in the centre of the fifth floor river elevation and also has fittings of the highest quality. The building was much admired on completion, and provided a foretaste of life aboard ship for those sailing across the oceans with Cunard.   

The Port of Liverpool Building   

Completed 1907 

Grade II* 

The Port of Liverpool Building was erected as the head office of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board. It was designed by Briggs, Wolstenholme and Thorneley following an architectural competition in 1901. It is a monumental structure in the Edwardian Baroque style with pediments and tall lantern towers. 

It has five storeys plus a basement and the principal elevation has thirteen bays with canted corners in the form of full height octagonal towers. The central entrance facing the Pier Head is flanked by free-standing three metre high statues on plinths by Charles John Allen. They are classically draped female figures, representing Commerce and Industry and above the entrance are relief sculptures of ships in cornucopias. 

The corner towers have tall glazed drums, with coupled Ionic columns supporting domes. The central dome is on a two stage drum and was introduced by the architect late in the design stage in response to the board's requirement that the building be given more architectural presence. 

Underneath the coffered dome there is a full height octagonal hall, from which radiate passages leading to office suites. It has round arched openings to the galleries with iron railings, and solid balconies with bronzed lamp standards supported on fish for feet, to alternate floors. The hall has mosaic paving depicting the points of the compass and around the frieze between ground and first floor in gilt letters is Psalm 107: 

"They that go down to the sea in ships that do business in great waters these see the works of the Lord and his wonders of the deep. Anno Domini MCMVII" 

The ground floor is connected to upper floors by lifts incorporating gilt maritime emblems of sea-horses, the globe and anchors, the hall and staircase windows have stained glass, with maritime images of Poseiden, anchors, ships bells and shells, and dedications to countries of the British Empire: Singapore, British Honduras, British Guiana, Jamaica, Ceylon, New Zealand, South Africa, Sudan, Kenya, Nigeria, South and North Rhodesia, Canada, Australia, Gold Coast, Gibralta, Aden, Cyprus    and Malta.   

There are 2 square rusticated stone piers opposite the entrance to The Pier Head, with dentilled cornices and globes of the world with gilded continents, supported on dolphins, one of the strongest symbolic elements of this highly allegorical building. Other features include cast iron gates and gate piers decorated with mermaids, shells, chains and anchors and tritons, and with shields with the initials "M.D. & H.B.", a granite balustrade with stone lamp holders on the ends and continuing around the whole building with stone lamp holders in the form of naval monuments. 

On completion, the building was seen as a symbol of Liverpool's national importance, and of the role of the Board in service of the Empire.   

George's Dock Ventilation and Central Station of the  Mersey Road Tunnel   

1931-1934 

Grade II 

Located between Port of Liverpool Building and The Strand is another highly distinctive building in very different architectural style, the Art Deco Ventilation Station and Tunnel Offices, designed by Sir Basil Mott and J. A. Brodie with Herbert J. Rowse as architect. It is one of a number of buildings on both sides of the river constructed to serve the Mersey Road Tunnel. The central angular ventilation shaft dominates the building and takes the form of a stylised obelisk. Around the base of the shaft are offices, four and five storeys high with two basement levels. Rowse introduced sculpture as an essential part of the exterior. 

Archaeological discoveries in Egypt, notably that of the tomb of Tutankamun in 1921, generated a huge interest in the architecture and art of Ancient Egypt, and they became    strong themes in the Art Deco movement of the 1920s and 1930s. This theme is strongly reflected in this building, its setting and the sculptural programme was carried out by Edmund C. Thompson, assisted by George C. Capstick. 

The windows to the north and south are in tall recesses, flanked by relief sculptures of Civil Engineering, Construction, Architecture and Decoration, whilst the west façade has a seven foot high relief in Portland stone - Speed - the Modern Mercury. It is a futuristic stylised figure with minimal human characteristics and strong imagery of speed. Other statues in fluted niches are of Night and Day in black basalt, symbols of the never-closing Mersey Tunnel and on the east façade is a black marble memorial to the workers who died in construction of the tunnel. 

There are raised paved areas to the north and south with retaining walls, rails and lamp standards. The one to the south is separated from the building by a sunken area and a small yard accessed through a fluted gate with flowing waves on top, and has a compass. A raised area to the north has a pair of blind rusticated pylons with banded caps, echoing the Egyptian temple influence. 

The River Wall at the Pier Head 

Circa 1771 with later alterations 

Unlisted 

The river wall was first built to enclose the George's Dock (opened 1771, closed 1900). The wall had a chequered early career with several partial reconstructions, but has survived large loads, for which it was not designed, being imposed on it by a succession of floating landing stages built in 1847, 1876 and 1976. At low water it is possible to see the outlets at its foot which released water from George's Dock to sluice away silt and protect the stage from grounding. 

The Pier Head Piazza 

The Pier Head Piazza has continuously evolved since it was reclaimed from the river to form George's Dock, completed in 1771. It was altered slightly by John Foster between 1810 and 1815 and partly rebuilt in 1822-1825 when a transit shed was erected. It was altered again in 1871, but it hindered access to the Mersey ferries and was eventually closed in 1900 and filled in to create the Pier Head. It has since served as a point of embarkation and arrival for passenger vessels. The most frequent of those vessels have been ferries crossing the Mersey, but it has also been a terminal for ferries to the Isle of Man and Ireland and the point of emigration for millions of Europeans on their way to the New World. It thus has a special place in the hearts of those emigrants, as possibly the last time they and their ancestors stood on European soil. Of the 5.5 million emigrants who crossed the Atlantic between 1860 and 1900, 4.75 million sailed from Liverpool.  

The Pier Head is one of the few public open spaces in the city centre and serves as a communal focal point for the people of Liverpool, providing a link between the river and the city. It provides a venue for major public gatherings, such as the commemoration of The Battle of the Atlantic and the Mormon celebration of emigration from Europe. The cultural significance of the Pier Head partly explains why it is such a popular location for the erection of a diverse collection of monuments and statuary.   

Cunard War Memorial 

Circa 1920 

Grade II 

Just in front of the Cunard building is the Cunard War Memorial, designed by the architect Arthur Davis and made by the sculptor Henry Pegram. It consists of a bronze figure of Victory on a Roman Doric column in granite by John Stubbs and Sons, with bronze mouldings and details by The Bromsgrove Guild. The design is given a naval character by a bronze prow of a Roman ship, together with ropes, anchors and shells. 

The statue was exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts before being unveiled in its current position by the Earl of Derby in October 1921. 

Monument of Edward VII 
Circa 1911 
Grade II 
Strategically sited in the middle of the central axis between the Cunard Building and the river is the majestically dominant, 4.9 metres high, bronze equestrian statue of King Edward VII by Sir William Goscombe John. The statue was commissioned following the death in 1910 of the king and was originally intended to be located outside the south entrance to St. George's Hall. However, after much wrangling it was decided that it should be placed in its current location and almost 11 years after being commissioned, the sculpture was unveiled in 1921 in a ceremony lasting 10 minutes! 

Memorial to Sir Alfred Lewis Jones 

1913 

Grade II 

This memorial was designed by Sir George Frampton and is located at the south end of the Pier Head facing west towards the River Mersey. It takes the form of a tall and slender granite pedestal with two projecting base courses. On top of the pedestal is a bronze allegorical female figure, representing Liverpool. In her left hand is a model of a ship upon a globe, whilst her right hand is slightly extended, "welcoming Commerce to the Port of Liverpool". Two seated allegorical figures on the base course represent "The Fruits of Industry" and "Research", alluding to Sir Alfred Lewis Jones's connection with commerce and the School of Tropical Medicine.   

Sir Alfred Lewis Jones (1845-1909) was a senior partner in Elder, Dempster and Co., one of Liverpool's most successful shipping companies. He promoted the eating of bananas in Britain and the ships of the Elder Dempster Line became known as "the banana boats". He was a great philanthropist and amongst other things, founded the world's first School of Tropical MedicineinLiverpoolin 1898. It was there that many important medical discoveries were made, including that malaria is transmitted by the bite of the anophiles mosquito, for which Sir Ronald Ross was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1902.The memorial was unveiled in 1913 to unanimous public acclaim.   

Memorial to the Engine Room Heroes (of the Titanic) 
Circa 1916 
Grade II 
This granite monument is located inSt. Nicholas Placea few metres north of the floating roadway. It takes the form of a 14.6 metres high obelisk with integral sculpture by Sir William Goscombe John, surmounted by a gilded flame.   

The memorial was originally intended to be for the thirty two engineers who stayed at their posts on the tragic night of 15th April 1912 when the Titanic (built in Belfast for the Liverpool based White Star Line) sank. However, World War I broke out before its completion, and despite some objections, its dedication was broadened to include all maritime engine room fatalities incurred during the performance of duty. Even so the monument is still identified most strongly with the Titanic and arouses great interest because of that particular association.   

The memorial is an exceptionally early example of a monument raised to working men. The figures are treated with a high degree of naturalism, the detail of their work-clothes being carefully studied. 

Retaining Walls of former Floating Roadway and American Transport Operations Memorial 

1872-74 

Unlisted 

The Floating Roadway was built between Princes Dock and George's Dock to provide shallow-grade access to the Liverpool landing stage and appears to have utilised the south side of George's Dock Basin. It is constructed in granite after the manner of Jesse Hartley. The Floating Roadway was fixed at the east end at ground level and attached at the west end to the landing stage, which rose and fell with the tide.   

The retaining walls on the north and south sides were later extended out to provide new river walls, and after World War II were partly rebuilt in brick with early concrete lamp columns, and a memorial was added to the south side of the south wall to commemorate the American Transport operations during the war. More recently the cut has been shortened at its east end to accommodate a pumping station but the wall plinth and the two piers were retained. 

Canada Boulevard 
1995 
Unlisted 
The boulevard of Canadian maple trees was established in 1995 by the Canadian Government as "a living memorial to Canadians" who died in the Battle of the Atlantic. It runs north to south in front of the Royal Liver Building, The Cunard Building and The Port of Liverpool Building. Each tree has a plaque set in the pavement next to it commemorating a Canadian ship lost at sea in World War II. An information plaque is set into a pedestal at the south end of the boulevard.   

The Memorial to the Merchant Navy 

1952 

Unlisted 

This memorial is in the form of a Portland Stone platform with a pair of enclosing curved walls, a column and a pair of globes. It is dedicated to the 1,390 Merchant Navy seamen who lost their lives in World War II. The design was a collaboration between architects Stanley Harold Smith and Charles Frederick Blythin and the sculptor George Herbert Tyson Smith. 

Other Memorials at the Pier Head include memorials to:- 

Norwegian Seamen            Plaque 
All Those Lost At Sea        Stone 
Belgian Merchant Seamen   Plaque 
Captain J. F. Walker, CB, DSO, RN    Statue by Tom Murphy 1998 

All of the war memorials are recognised during the annual Armistice Service in November.