Architecture
ACC Liverpool is a landmark building on the city's skyline, symbolising the regeneration of Liverpool's waterfront with an iconic design. The building was designed to look like a butterfly landing on the water and is built below ground level to maintain the stunning view of the Liverpool waterfront. Our proximity to the Grade I listed Albert Dock and World Heritage Site demanded the highest specification for the building's design; ACC Liverpool forms the right-sided boundary of the Liverpool waterfront, running from the Three Graces on the left past the Albert Dock and framed by the city's two cathedrals behind us. Our design has also become an integral part of the city's new international branding.
ACC Liverpool's environmental ethos is as fresh as our approach to events. Designed to be one of Europe's greenest venues, we are the only BREEAM accredited venue in the UK, have achieved Gold in the Green Business Tourism Scheme and possess a string of innovations designed to reduce our environmental impact.
Environmentally friendly measures
ACC Liverpool achieved a 'Very Good' BREEAM rating, the only venue of its kind to do so. It is designed to produce half the CO2 emissions and use 20% less electricity than a traditional build, through a variety of green design features. The design, insulation and air control system is inherently efficient, high efficiency lighting is controlled by motion detection and five 20-metre low noise wind turbines positioned on the side of the river contribute to ACC Liverpool's power supply.
Rainwater harvesting accounts for 40% of water used for flushing toilets, while the roof of the Galleria - the spine linking BT Convention Centre and Echo arena is made of the same construction as the Eden Project - twin layers of plastic blown up with air, ensuring the building stays cool in summer and warm in the winter.
The venue has achieved a 'Gold' award in the Green Business Tourism Scheme.
Innovation
ACC Liverpool is unique in Europe - no other arena and convention centre complex is able to be fully interlinked like ours, enabling a large, flexible facility. No panel of glass on the building is the same either; each piece is a different size.
In the BT Convention Centre's main auditorium, the two drums - which are unique in England - take a full ten minutes to turn around, creating two self-contained lecture theatre areas in the 1350 seat auditorium, each with a capacity of 250. The multi-purpose hall on the convention centre's lower level features the tallest walls ever created by designer Alco Beldan - bringing natural daylight into the hall on both sides. The room can also be split into up to six individual spaces.
The design and build team
Architect: Wilkinson Eyre
Sports Consultant: Sports Concepts
Theatre Consultant: Theatre Projects
Landscape Architect: Gustafson Porter
Lighting Consultant: Speirs & Major
Structural Engineer: Buro Happold
M&E Engineer: Faber Maunsell
Acoustics: Sandy Brown Associates