New Hall Place facts for kids
Quick facts for kids New Hall Place |
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| General information | |
| Type | Office |
| Location | Liverpool, England, United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 53°24′31″N 2°59′45″W / 53.40862°N 2.99571°W |
| Completed | 1974 |
| Height | |
| Roof | 73 metres (240 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 13 |
New Hall Place is a tall office building in Liverpool, England. It has 13 floors and was finished in 1974. People also know it as The Capital or the Royal & SunAlliance Building. Because of its rough, light brown outside walls and its spot near the water, some locals call it 'The Sandcastle'. It is built in a style called brutalist.
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History of New Hall Place
This building was first built for a company called Royal Insurance. It was their main office. Besides offices, it had a car park underground for staff. There was also a garage for company cars. On the first floor, staff could find a restaurant, a sports hall, a gym, and a bar.
In the 1990s, Royal Insurance joined with another company, SunAlliance. They became Royal & SunAlliance (RSA). Over time, the number of staff working in the building changed. It went from over 3,000 people to about 1,200.
In 2006, RSA sold the building to George Downing. RSA then rented back the parts of the building they still used. This allowed other businesses, like the UK Border Agency, to rent space there too. George Downing changed the building's name from New Hall Place to The Capital. Since 2016, an American company called Trinistar has owned The Capital.
Building Design and Location
New Hall Place is designed in a brutalist style. This means it uses strong, simple shapes and often shows off its concrete structure. Its design was meant to fit in with the large buildings nearby, like the famous Royal Liver Building.
The building is on Old Hall Street. This is an important area in Liverpool for business and money. The bottom three floors of New Hall Place are a car park. It's called The Capital Car Park and can hold 1,100 cars.
One of the exits from the Queensway Tunnel is right under New Hall Place. This tunnel goes under the River Mersey.
Using River Water for Heating and Cooling
New Hall Place was built at the same time as the Liverpool Daily Post and Echo building. Both buildings used a clever way to heat and cool themselves. They used heat pumps that got water from the nearby River Mersey.
About 3,000 gallons of water per hour seeps into the Mersey railway tunnel from the river above. This water is always around 13 degrees Celsius (55 degrees Fahrenheit). Before, this water was just pumped out into the docks.
The heat pumps in New Hall Place used this water. In winter, they took heat from the water to warm the building. In summer, they used the water to take heat away from the building, keeping it cool. This was a very efficient way to control the building's temperature.
Images for kids
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New Hall Place, Liverpool
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The commercial district of Liverpool, with New Hall Place visible.
