St George's Hall

St George's Hall on St George's Place in Liverpool, England, is among the finest neoclassical buildings in Europe. It was designed by the young architect Harvey Lonsdale Elmes, who won a competition in 1839 for a concert hall, and a second competition for law courts led to a single combined building. Construction ran from 1841 to 1854, with the hall opening in September 1854. Elmes died in 1847, and Charles Robert Cockerell completed the interiors. The exterior is a long Greek Revival block with a Corinthian colonnade, a pediment of sculpture and a vaulted roof, built from local and Yorkshire stone. Inside, the Great Hall is a barrel-vaulted space with a heritage floor of around 30,000 Minton tiles, normally covered to protect it and uncovered only on special open days. The hall's Willis organ was among the largest in the world when built. At each end sit the Crown Court and the Civil Court, which kept operating for over a century, and visitors on tours can see the Victorian cells below, where prisoners awaited trial. The Small Concert Room has an elaborate gilded interior and the building also contains the Heritage Centre. The plateau outside has the Cenotaph, unveiled in 1930, and statues of local figures. The hall suffered years of neglect and underuse during the late 20th century before a restoration costing around 23 million pounds reopened it in 2007. It is now used for concerts, civic events, weddings and tours, and it forms the visual centre of the William Brown Street cultural quarter. Visitors should check the programme in advance because access varies with events.