The Capital is the largest office building in Liverpool extending to over 410,000 sq ft. Situated within a prime location, the building
provides high quality office and commercial space.

The Capital was opened in July 1976 as the purpose-built headquarters for Royal
Insurance. It provided the best example of a modern and efficient working environment and this legacy endures today following a substantial
refurbishment. The completion of City Exchange
in 2000 created an impressive new atrium and three level concourse fronting Old Hall Street and Union Street.

The expansive atrium space provided a number of split level terraces interconnected with escalators and stairs for a variety of functions to include social breakout, informal meeting, commercial and display areas with a large
coffee shop. The atrium structure also straddles
over a Tesco express store and access road into a multi-storey car park. Commissioned to
undertake a RIBA Stage 2 feasibility study, we identified a number of opportunities to extend the mezzanine terrace floors over the Tesco Express to create c.1300m2 of additional floor area for office space.

Through careful desk top and intrusive investigation of the structure we established that
the additional floor could be accommodated without the need to strengthen the building frame passing through the Tesco Express. A
number of structural options were considered to include a steel frame and composite concrete and metal deck which was ultimately selected as the preferred solution for reasons of buildability, cost and programme. The connection of the proposed steel atrium deck to the existing bow string atrium trusses required the development of bespoke steel to steel connections in order to sleeve the compound beams around the bow string.