Ramboll wins bid for £50 million Liverpool Cruise Terminal Facility

The Liverpool City Council has announced Ramboll as the winner of a £50 million Cruise Terminal Facility contract on the River Mersey, as the Council seeks to bolster its capacity to welcome cruise ship visitors to the city. The firm will work with a range of partners to draw up designs to help Liverpool take advantage of a growing influx of cruise visitors, with an application for planning permission to be filed later this year.

Liverpool City Council is investing an estimated £13 billion into regeneration projects around the city, including sinking a proposed £50 million Cruise Terminal Facility on the River Mersey. The project aims to further expand the city’s capacity to harbour cruise ships, with 2016 seeing 60 vessels, with 120,000 passengers and crew, dock. The new facilities will include a range of functions, including a new passenger and baggage facility – which too includes passport control, lounge, café, toilets, taxi rank and vehicle pick up point.

“Liverpool needs a new cruise facility so that we can provide the next generation of super liners and passengers with a world class welcome and a five star experience," explained the Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson. He added, "A new cruise facility would also be a huge boost to our plans to regenerate the North Liverpool docklands and create thousands of new jobs.”

The design and development contract from Liverpool City Council has, following a European wide tendering process, gone to speciality design, engineering consulting firm Ramboll – who will lead the multi-million-pound project. The contract includes a range of other parties, including architects Stride Treglown, cost managers Gardiner & Theobald, planning and property consultants JLL, and landscape architects Hyland Edgar Driver.

Grand Designs

The initial project plan will focus on the proposed £50 million facility, which includes the submission of planning permission to develop the former Princes Jetty, off Princes Parade. Ramboll will, if the plan is approved later this year, provide a further range of services to the project, including monitoring of the facilities construction and advisory on contractor procurement, among others.

"Appointing Ramboll to lead this very experienced technical team is a key step in ensuring we develop a facility to the highest standards," said Anderson.

Commenting on Ramboll’s role in the wider project, Project Director Dave Grove meanwhile stated, “The whole design team is extremely proud to have secured the position of Technical Advisors, and look forward to supporting Liverpool City Council in this exciting endeavour. The cruise ship terminal project is one of vital importance to the City, and will secure the future of this new cornerstone in Liverpool’s economy. Having personally worked in the quayside area throughout my 20 year career at Ramboll, I am confident that we can deliver a design that will meet the highest standards and needs of all who will use the facility.”