Work has started on the Royal College of Physicians' new £35m northern headquarters in Liverpool.

The Spine building, in Knowledge Quarter Liverpool (KQ Liverpool) will be one of the healthiest workspaces for mental and physical wellbeing in the UK and it is hoped that it will be among the first to achieve the international WELL standard of modern building design when it opens its doors in 2020.

The Spine takes its name from a striking staircase on its north elevation that resembles human vertebrae.

While the bottom three and top four storeys of The Spine will become a new 70,000 sq. ft. centre of clinical excellence for the RCP, the remaining seven floors will offer a flexible range of innovative, contemporary workspaces designed to meet the needs of organisations in the health, science and education sectors.


Located within Liverpool City Council’s £1bn Paddington Village development, The Spine will boast an internal sky garden, complete with high-oxygen producing plants, a fine dining restaurant available for private hire, a large bicycle and shower facility and under croft car parking for 50 spaces featuring five electric charging points.

A dedicated mezzanine exhibition space will connect via a spiral staircase to a ground floor café and foyer, while each of the floors, which are circa 11,550 sq ft, will enjoy some of the best views of the city thanks to floor-to-ceiling glazing throughout.

Morgan Sindall Construction & Infrastructure, contracted by Liverpool City Council to deliver the Paddington Village scheme, has instigated the planning process and consultant appointments for the building and last year competitively appointed AHR Architects and Arup to design the building and advise on how to achieve the prestigious WELL standard.

GVA and CBRE have been appointed as joint agents on the Paddington Village scheme and a new marketing brochure has been produced to launch at MIPIM UK, the property conference in London, later this week.