Kings. Made for Liverpool. Made for the World.
Davos Property Developments Limited in conjunction with Beetham Davos Ltd have revealed the new brand name and identity for the companies’ ambitious £1bn project overlooking Liverpool’s famous waterfront.
OUT goes the site’s original name – King Edward Triangle – and IN comes Kings, representing a bold new district that the developers say will redefine how people live, work and experience the city.
“Liverpool is a global brand and deserves a skyline to match,” says Hugh Frost of Beetham Davos. “We’re crafting a whole new neighbourhood and wanted a brand name and personality that illustrates Liverpool’s confidence.”
The development’s strapline, says Frost, is relevant locally and globally and offers investors and visitors “a reflection of who we are and an invitation to come and share in our spirit.”
Isobel Hyde-Walker, from creative agency Somewhere, which led the brand’s strategic and creative development, said:
“The brand articulates the city’s confidence and its continued progress and reinvention. Liverpool’s waterfront has gone through many iterations over the last three hundred years and Kings will carry the city forward on the next leg of its journey.
“We wanted a brand that spoke to investors, talent, businesses and visitors and which provided authentic cues without being cliched. It had to feel unmistakably Liverpool – of the place, not merely in it. Our tone is confident but not overly corporate – that isn’t Liverpool, after all.”
Hugh Frost says the brand also reflects the city’s determination and its inherent positivity.
“There’s a tenacity here – when we need to make it happen, it happens. It’s what makes us Liverpool. And when we make something happen, we make it our own – but are proud to share it with anyone who wants to be part of it.
“Kings is a place that feels completely Liverpool, yet completely new. We’ve always been a city of reinvention – our spirit goes through the generations and remains a major ‘pull factor’ for investors and visitors, whether they are here for a day or a lifetime.
“We’re going to develop a neighbourhood that belongs to Liverpool and is open for the world to experience. You’ll see it as you approach the city from the sea, land or air and we know from our early discussions that investors and end-users want to be part of it.
“We’ll be giving the brand its first major airing at the MIPIM property fair in Cannes next week and will reveal further major progress to an invited audience of investors,” added Hugh Frost.
Kings is designed as a multi-faceted brand with local relevance and global appeal, expressing the ambition and confidence of the development. The vertical, geometric form of the logo evokes a high-rise silhouette, while the jewel-inspired wordmark and liver bird-inspired palette of deep greens and copper deliver a bold, premium identity.
A new web site – www.kingsliverpool.uk – has been launched and will grow and evolve as the project progresses, says Hugh Frost.
The brand reveal comes on the heels of planning consent being secured for the development’s ‘pathfinder’ tower on the corner of Waterloo Road and the now stopped-up Galton Street. The 28-storey building, to be known as No. 1 Kings, will include a residents’ lounge, gym and workspace on the first floor, with the top floor boasting two indoor lounges and a large outdoor space for barbecues and social gatherings. The outdoor space will enjoy 360-degree views of the city skyline, river Mersey and the Welsh mountains beyond.
The company says works on its wider masterplan for Kings ‘continues apace’, with the objective of consulting on its recommendations in Q2 of this year, before submitting a hybrid planning application that will seek detailed consent for infrastructure design and layout, with reserved matters consent for the design of individual buildings.
Pegasus Group is providing planning, economics, heritage and EIA Services to the client team behind the King Edward scheme. Brock Carmichael are the masterplan architects, with Planit leading on landscape design.
