Three Graces guide

Three buildings, one skyline

The Three Graces is the informal name for the trio of monumental buildings that line Pier Head on Liverpool’s waterfront: the Royal Liver Building (1911), the Cunard Building (1917) and the Port of Liverpool Building (1907). Together they form the image most people associate with Liverpool before they’ve even visited — the skyline that greeted transatlantic passengers arriving by ocean liner in the early 20th century, back when Liverpool was the second port of the British Empire and the departure point for millions of emigrants heading to America. Each building was designed independently, for a different client, by a different architectural team, yet they read as a coherent group thanks to their shared scale, waterfront alignment and roughly matching stone-and-Portland-stone palette.

The buildings, one by one

The Port of Liverpool Building, the earliest of the three (completed 1907), was built for the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board and is topped by a distinctive copper dome — a deliberate echo of the domed civic architecture found in London and continental European port cities, signalling Liverpool’s ambitions as a world port. It’s the smallest of the three but arguably the most architecturally ornate, with an Edwardian Baroque style full of decorative stonework.

The Cunard Building (1917) was the headquarters of the Cunard Line, the shipping company behind the Lusitania, the Mauretania and later the Queen Mary — for decades this was where transatlantic tickets were issued and where passengers’ paperwork was processed before boarding. Its Italian Renaissance Revival style, with a heavy rusticated stone base, was deliberately built to project financial solidity and permanence, the same visual language banks used at the time.

The Royal Liver Building (1911), covered in full in our dedicated guide, is the tallest and most recognisable of the three, topped by the twin Liver Birds that have become Liverpool’s civic symbol. It’s also the only one of the three offering paid public access to its upper floors via the 360 Tower Tour.

UNESCO status — the honest version

Liverpool’s Maritime Mercantile City was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004, recognising the historic docks, warehouses and civic buildings — including the Three Graces — as an outstanding example of a world-trading port from the 18th to early 20th centuries. In 2021, UNESCO delisted the site, citing “irreversible loss” of the attributes that justified the original listing, driven primarily by the Liverpool Waters redevelopment project further north along the historic dock estate rather than by the Three Graces themselves, which remain unchanged.

It’s worth being upfront about this with visitors: Liverpool is one of only three places ever removed from the UNESCO list worldwide, a fact locals have mixed feelings about — some see it as bureaucratic overreach given the buildings themselves are untouched and remain protected under UK Grade I and Grade II* listing, others see it as a fair reflection of how aggressively the wider waterfront has been developed since 2004. Either way, the Three Graces themselves are not at any physical risk and remain fully open to view.

Seeing all three properly

Because the buildings sit along a gentle curve of the waterfront rather than in a straight line, getting a single photograph of all three together from land is trickier than you’d expect — the floating landing stage directly in front of them, where the Mersey Ferry docks, is the best land-based vantage point. For the classic postcard angle with all three in proportion, get out onto the water: the Mersey sightseeing river cruise departs a short walk from the buildings and loops out into the river, giving unobstructed views of the full trio from a distance that land-based photography can’t match. A guided walking option, the 1-hour guided waterfront tour , covers the Three Graces alongside the wider Pier Head and dock history if you’d rather have context from a local guide than work it out from plaques.

What’s inside (and what isn’t)

Only the Royal Liver Building has a standing public offer — the 360 Tower Tour takes you up into the clock tower and out onto the terrace beneath the Liver Birds. The Cunard Building operates mainly as a civic and events venue today (Liverpool City Council uses parts of it, and it occasionally hosts public exhibitions or open days, most reliably during September’s Heritage Open Days weekend), but has no standing daily tour. The Port of Liverpool Building remains a working office building with no general public access to its interior, though its ornate domed entrance hall is sometimes visible from the doorway or during occasional open days — check locally rather than assuming access on a given date.

Best times and photo tips

Early morning and the golden hour before sunset both work well, since the buildings face roughly east across the Mersey and catch warm side-light for much of the day. The buildings are floodlit after dark, which makes for a strikingly different photograph if you’re staying in the city centre and can return in the evening. Avoid midday in summer if you want depth in your photos — flat overhead light washes out the stonework’s texture, one of the more distinctive features of all three facades.

Getting there

Pier Head is a 15-20 minute walk from Lime Street station, or a 5-8 minute walk from James Street or Moorfields Merseyrail stations. It sits directly beside Royal Albert Dock (a further 10-minute walk south along the promenade) and forms the natural start or end point of a Liverpool waterfront walking route, and it’s a stop on the hop-on hop-off bus network if you’re covering more ground across a single day.

Frequently asked questions about the Three Graces

Why are they called the Three Graces?

The nickname borrows from Greek mythology’s three Graces (Charites) — goddesses of charm, beauty and creativity — applied informally to the trio because of how they present as a unified, harmonious group along the waterfront, even though each was designed by a different architect for a different client.

Can you go inside all three buildings?

No. Only the Royal Liver Building offers a paid public tour (the 360 Tower Tour). The Cunard Building is used for civic and event functions with occasional public open days, and the Port of Liverpool Building is a working office building with no general public access, though its domed entrance hall is sometimes visible during Heritage Open Days.

Did Liverpool lose UNESCO World Heritage status because of the Three Graces?

Not directly because of them, but because of wider waterfront development. UNESCO delisted Liverpool’s Maritime Mercantile City World Heritage Site in 2021, citing “irreversible loss” of heritage value from developments including the Liverpool Waters project near the historic docks north of Pier Head — the Three Graces themselves remain fully intact and are separately Grade I and Grade II* listed under UK heritage law, which offers ongoing legal protection regardless of the UNESCO decision.

What’s the best way to photograph all Three Graces together?

From the water. A short Mersey Ferry crossing or river cruise gives you the full sweep of all three buildings in one frame, which is difficult to achieve from land since the buildings sit at a slight angle to each other along the curve of the waterfront. From land, the floating landing stage in front of the buildings is the next best option.