The brief

Baltic View, on Norfolk Street, is situated in the heart of Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle district, which has been hailed by The Sunday Times (in 2018) as one of the “coolest places to live”. Aliva was tasked with creating a distinctive finish for the new 130-apartment scheme, reflecting the industrial heritage of Liverpool’s creative and digital quarter. The £20m nine-storey block offers a mixture of one, two and three-bed rental homes alongside nine office units on the ground and first floor, a courtyard, communal space, and storage space for up to 100 bicycles. Aliva designed a corten-finished aluminium rainscreen cladding exterior for a tower block on Blundell Street, also located in the Baltic Triangle area.

What we did

Aliva designed, supplied and installed a EWI system combined with 5mm lightweight brick slips to achieve a high quality, contemporary aesthetic for the development, in-keeping with the character of the location and suitable for the structural requirements of the building. The brief required a brick slip system which provided a high-quality finish, that could be installed safely without height restrictions on the 11-storey building. Lightweight brick slips, over a mineral wool insulation, has A rated accreditation and was the product of choice for this development. Identical in appearance to traditional slips, the lightweight solution has an unlimited height threshold, reducing the weight of the façade and also providing a more cost-effective solution. To compliment the brick slip areas, Aliva used a Termok8 Minerale Render system finished in an ‘absolute’ white to enhance and contrast with the traditional looking brick work. The render’s self-cleaning and anti-algae staining properties will also ensure the building maintains its pristine finish for years to come. The building programme was impacted by Covid-19 but despite this its stunning transformation has led to all units in the 11-storey building being sold prior to completion.

What makes it special

This project is the first in many years to use an EWI lightweight brick slip system in the Liverpool city region. Baltic View also won the Residential Property Deal of the Year Award at the 2019 Inside Property Awards for the Liverpool city region.