Mersey as you've never seen it before

YOU can only get to it in a special vehicle. The ordinary public aren't allowed anywhere near it. It is full of dangerous chemicals, and why on Earth would you want to go there anyway?

No, not the Ladies or Gents in any Concert Square bar you care to mention, but the Seaforth radar tower.

It might be an equally terrifying prospect close up, empty but for the asbestos, and you may have read of big ideas afoot to demolish it, replace it with something three times higher and rename it the Mersey Observatory.

But this one has got people fired up, and so have things progressed on he idea that a 50m high illuminated tower has won an international design competition in which 10,000 people voted. The £11.6 million design, which looks like a gigantic glass vase, is by Duggan Morris Architects and was the unanimous choice of the judging panel.

It is certainly striking in the visual here, but that's only half of the story. Confidential was given access to the radar tower on a bright sunny day this week to see what's in store.

The structure, as it stands, is full of asbestos and can only be reached by a four wheel drive vehicle which passes over the mud logged, rocky terrain of a metal recycling yard within the Port of Liverpool Freeport. All that will change.

So why get excited? Well if you like a view this is for you. From the top of the tower as it stands, Liverpool's landmarks bask in golden light, Beetham and Unity towers jostling for position with the establishment Liver Buildings and cathedrals from a little hitherto seen perspective. Further in and the bustle and clatter of the busy port are observed in a new light.

Eyes to the left and take in the whole sweep of the Mersey Estuary out to the Bar and the Irish Sea beyond. Straight ahead is Snowdonia. Behind, the Gormley men are mere dots as they impassively stare out to sea.

And stare out to sea you will. It, and the sky were shimmering blue and gold the day we went, but that changes all the time. The colours are never the same twice in a row down here and Joe Morris's new design plans to reflect that, literally, clad in photosensitive glass that will alter hue as the light passes through it from dawn to dusk on the high and low tides of the four seasons. Joe Morris told us: “We get lots of projects to work on, such as social housing an schools, so this has been a very special challenge for us, given this amazing location. The setting for the Mersey Observatory is entirely unique both geographically and culturally. The challenge was to create something to complement the extraordinary setting as well as having sufficient gravitas to act as a 'beacon' in its own right."

Unusually, the design calls for two complementary structures: a viewing tower and a separate café and exhibition centre. Duggan Morris calls them the 'lamp' and 'bowl'. The Observatory tower is designed to be illuminated from the inside and contains two viewing platforms. A lift would carry people to an enclosed, all-weather viewing platform, and further up to an open air viewing platform atop the tower.

The second, lower building contains the support facilities including reception, information point, exhibitions, restaurant, café and toilets, as well as a rooftop viewing 'amphitheatre' intended for closer views of the bird sanctuary near Crosby Marina.

The project is led by the Mersey Basin Campaign and backed by a partnership that includes the Northwest Regional Development Agency, Mersey Waterfront and Peel Holdings.

Now the real work begins. The architects must develop their preliminary designs to a much more detailed level, and crucially the team behind the project must put together the funding package that will make the Mersey Observatory a reality.

Ian Hamilton Fazey, chairman of the Waterloo Residents Association and also a member of the judging panel, said: "One interesting statistic from the public consultation is that 95 per cent of the people who commented supported the Observatory concept – less than five per cent attacked it per se. The vast majority of people realise that any public money for this project is simply not transferable: it is a case of "use it or lose it."

He added: "Anyone who has had the opportunity to go on to the roof of the existing radar tower knows that there is one single "Wow! factor" that it is impossible to miss.”

A view (of a view) we tend to share.

See: www.merseyobservatory.com