Giant golden Liver Bird with restaurant in its head…

Giant golden Liver Bird with restaurant in its head would have 'rivalled statue of Liberty'

Imagine, for a moment, how the city's famous waterfront could have looked with a giant Liver Bird statue spreading its golden wings across the Mersey.

Not even 10-years ago, this vision could well have become a reality after ambitious plans for Liver Bird statue to "rival the statue of Liberty" in New York were drawn up. The project for the 23-storey landmark was called Homecoming, and could have cost up to £250m.

In 2015, it was the vision of architect David Backhouse, whose previous projects included designing the Cavern Walks shopping complex. The giant bird would sit on top of a five-storey "nest" building on an artificial island, whose position had been drawn up based on advice from river pilot John Curry.

The plans included an atrium on every floor and the building could have housed a luxury hotel, shops, apartments and even offices for young entrepreneurs. Mr Backhouse also suggested there could be a "Genealogy museum" linked to the museums on New York's Ellis Island.

But what would undoubtedly have been one of the most impressive details, had it been built, was at the top of the statue. Behind the Liver bird's eyes, there were plans for a split-level restaurant with views over the Mersey.

Mr Backhouse and his design team, Peter Foo and Gary Morris, also wanted the building to be "self-sustainable" so it would have no ongoing energy costs. To help achieve this, it was proposed the bird would be clad in green/gold photovoltaic cells for solar energy alongside a wind turbines in the wings and tidal turbines below the nest.

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In 2016, The ECHO reported Gary Young, a marketer working with Mr Backhouse, said it was attracting interest from potential investors. He said: "There has been movement, but it’s all been under the water. There's been quite a lot of interest in the proposal from the Far East.

"David always knew that this was going to be a long-term process. Now we’re trying to get the funding in place."

Mr Young said the project's backers would also consider selling naming rights for the development. He added: "If somebody wanted to come up with a significant chunk of the money or wanted to put down a marker in terms of tenancy agreements, then there's time to put bids in place. They're open to offers."

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Mr Backhouse, who also worked on the legendary Cavern Club and had spent 10-years working on the Homecoming designs, said: "This is the culmination of an idea we had nearly 30-years ago now. The concept has never been far from my thoughts throughout my years of working on many prestigious Liverpool-based projects.

"I'm so pleased now to finally present the idea to both the city and the world." Mr Backhouse and the design team said they wanted to "help create something for the city that will be a source of pride," and "will symbolise the tradition of the city, but more importantly, the essence of the new Liverpool in the 21st century, exciting and self-sustaining."

Whatever your views on the idea, there's no doubt the vision was spectacular and ambitious. So what happened to Homecoming?

Since 2016, nothing more has been reported about the project so it's fair to say the plans are, at the very least, on hold. But with the architect's long-term vision appearing to be a labour-of-love, and track record of working on big projects that have come to fruition, whose to say we won't see plans for a waterfront Liver Bird rise again.

Would you have liked the Homecoming project to have become a reality? Let us know in the comments section below.

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