Pihl builds new museum in the home town of The Beatles

Last week, Pihl turned the first sod for a new city history museum at Mann Island on Liverpool’s waterfront.

2007 05 15  Press Release

Danish contracting company E. Pihl & Son A.S. in tandem with English Galliford Try build a new world leading city history museum in Danish architecture at the Mann Island site on Liverpool’s famous waterfront.

The creation of a new and modern “Museum of Liverpool” showcasing the history of the town is a long-term ambition for National Museums Liverpool and will be the focal point when Liverpool becomes the European City of Culture in 2008.

The total floor area of the new museum will be approximately 10,000 m2, of which 5,000 m2 will be allocated for gallery space. Furthermore, the museum will provide teaching facilities, a community centre, a 200-seat theatre for audio/visual and community theatre performance, restaurants, shops, etc.

Danish architecture and building experience

The main contractor Pihl and Galliford Try will work together with Danish architects 3 x Nielsen who designed the futuristic building which will complement and form part of a new plan for the Mann Island site.

Here, Museum of Liverpool will be sitting in an extraordinary historic area, inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2004.

The remarkable building will be visible from both the town and the river. The façade will consist of a limited number of large glass sections, removing the boundery between in and out, whereas the rest of the façade will be covered by natural stones. The final choice of materials has not yet been made, but Pihl are experienced in working with natural stones, when they worked on the
Copenhagen Opera House and on the extension of the University of Copenhagen, says Project Manager in Pihl, Mr. Claus Wiegand Larsen.

In implementing this project, Pihl will benefit from their long experience in the field of building technologies, project management and prior practical experience from similar projects.

The building period is short despite the difficult conditions of the location in the middle of a channel and traffic tunnel system. The first phase of the building is due to be completed by the end of 2008. The work will continue through 2008 and the museum will be opened to the public in April 2010. Museum of Liverpool expects to attract 750,000 visitors a year.

The total project cost for the museum is 65 million GBP.

For further information, please contact:

Project Manager Claus Wiegand Larsen
E. Pihl & Son A.S.
Nybrovej 116
2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
Tel. +45 4527 7200
Fax +45 4527 7100
www.pihl-as.dk