Liverpool Airport Hangar 1

LIVERPOOL AIRPORT HANGAR 1

Airport hangar completed in 1937 and converted to commercial use as a sports centre between 2001 and 2003. Built to the designs of E.H. Bloomfield of the Liverpool Corporation's Land Steward and Surveyor's office, the hangar formed one of three component structures designed as the central ensemble for the new Liverpool municipal airport. It features a structural steel frame with brown brick walling panels and corner piers, supporting a steel lattice truss roof structure.

The hangar has a massive open plan interior, oriented north-west to south-east, and was one of two hangars designed to flank a central curved terminal building and face onto a wide V-shaped apron at the perimeter of a grass flying field. The south-east end and south-west side elevations form the building's principal architectural elements and incorporate wide hangar doorways originally fitted with motorised 'Esavian' folding doors, now retained in folded position behind 21st-century glass screens.

Flanking the door openings are substantial brick piers incorporating blue brick pilaster detailing and concrete banding. At the heads of the piers are stone bas-relief panels depicting standing winged figures. Above the end doorway is a wide glazed multi-light panel with three tiers of lights shaped like a bird with outstretched wings, the body of which appears to resemble an airship. Above this panel is a shallow double pitched roof extending the length of the building and incorporating clerestorey lights. The side walls have continuous glazed panels at upper wall level, with lower lean-to structures extending on both sides. The side entrance incorporates a wide glazed band or overlight above the hangar doorway.

The building measures 407 feet long, 212 feet wide, and 65 feet high at the apex. The motorised doors to the south-east elevation were the largest of their type in the world when installed. Originally surrounded by outbuildings on three sides including a technical administration block, workshop, and garage, these structures have been removed.

The conversion to sports hall usage necessitated insertion of flooring at the south-east end and replacement of the motorised doors with glazed screens, which retain the doors in their folded position. The roof structure remains fully exposed, though it now supports metal ducting.

The hangar remained in use for light aircraft until the conversion project commenced. It experienced declining use along with other 1930s buildings when the new Liverpool airport and terminal opened in 1986. The building underwent comprehensive repair and refurbishment in 1999 to 2001 before conversion. It forms a group with the former Liverpool Airport International Terminal (former Hangar 2) and the former Liverpool Airport Control Tower and Terminal. The hangar had a significant military role during the Second World War and is the most monumentally conceived and architecturally imposing hangar to survive from the inter-war period.