Ivy restaurant in listed bank building approved

The former Bank of England building in Liverpool was built in the 1840s

Plans to turn a former Bank of England building into a restaurant have been approved.

The Ivy restaurant chain, which owns the famous London venue of the same name, has taken over the currently-empty building in Liverpool's Castle Street.

Liverpool City Council approved the plan on Monday.

It will be chain owner Troia Restaurant's third Ivy in north-west England, having opened two in Manchester since 2018.

'Commanding'

A planning assessment by the council described the building as "commanding".

It was designed by Charles Robert Cockerell in the early 1840s.

The planners added: "Its scale and powerful design language evidences the importance of Liverpool as a highly influential centre of commerce and trade which led to the founding of this first regional outpost of the Bank of England outside of London.

"Internally the building has an austere character, a contrast with many other banks of Liverpool where wealth is flaunted with fine marbles, gilding and lavish decoration.”

Alterations to the building will be limited because the building is Grade I-listed, the planning report said.