The Royal Liver building is quite a tall building at 98m, made from concrete reinforced with steel, it is a very heavy structure. It is constructed with 2 main hollowed block areas with the centres acting as courtyards. 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 load.
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 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.
Royal Liver Building, Liverpool 