In the 1800’s the most common form of material used for construction was just simple concrete. However around 1900 there became a new form of construction material; reinforced concrete.
This is simply concrete poured over a steel mesh pattern which gives the building a much higher level of strength. Reinforced concrete was first used in America on the Ingalls building in Cincinnati. Built 5 years before the Royal Liver building, it was this that gave Walter Aubrey Thomas his inspiration.
Concrete is a very strong material and has the ability to keep gaining strength for a further 30 days after being poured. However concrete is notoriously weak in tension; due to its low tensile strength. Therefore something had to change. The creation on reinforced concrete meant that building could still be made from the common concrete material but be able to withstand much greater circumstances.
It is widely known as one of the best construction materials and very strong; being able to hold over 4x the weight standard concrete is able to, while also being flexible to form more artistic shapes. Due to the material being relatively new at the time, the full construction took about 3 years.
The Royal Liver building is quite a tall building at 98m, it is a very heavy structure. It is constructed with 2 main hollowed block areas with the centres acting as courtyards and working as light wells. The structure then has 2 very large high towers. These towers are load bearing, carrying the heavy weights.
Concrete is very good in compression, so reinforced concrete is perfect for a load bearing structure. Spreading the weight evenly down to the foundations. The building also includes a lot of arches. Arches are one of the most pure architectural features of any building. Being 100% compression they are actually able to hold themselves in place.
They also help with the even distribution of loads.
The frame includes a lot of reinforced concrete beams, including ones that span 15m and arch 18m, some of them carry more than 1,400 tonnes, the columns carry loads of around to 1,500 tonnes.
The floor slabs consist of tubular units with arched top-spaces that allowed the casting of concrete between the rows. A screed was then laid on top, making the floor 210mm thick. This method, now commonly used for floor slabs and known as ‘hollow tile’, was invented for this building — under a Hennebique-Mouchel patent.
However the look of reinforced concrete isn’t the most appealing. So Walter Aubrey Thomas decided to cover the surface of the building with clad granite. This gave the building a much more aesthetically pleasing look while also helping it blend into the environment, and becoming a part of what was later referred to as the ‘three graces’, this included the Royal Liver building, Cunard building and the Port of Liverpool building, all sitting side by side upon Liverpool’s Pier Head.
Royal Liver Building, Liverpool 