Design review criticises lack of principles and coherence in masterplan

Design Council Cabe has delivered another blow to architect Chapman Taylor’s £5.5bn Liverpool Waters scheme.

The Design Council said the latest masterplan for the scheme was “weakly expressed” and was not a useful planning tool for developers or the council.

It said: “Overall the principles [of the scheme] remain difficult to grasp and lack coherence.”

The development by Peel Holdings has plans for a series of skyscrapers on the waterfront including a 55-storey tower with residential, office and hotel space, plus a cruise liner terminal.

Cabe’s first review of the scheme in February 2011 concluded there was not enough evidence to be confident that a high quality scheme would emerge and said there needed to be clearer principles in place to define future development.

Last month, international heritage watchdog Unesco threatened to strip the waterfront of its world heritage status because of the plans.

Unesco said the plans would “irreversibly damage” the historic waterfront.

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