As part of a major makeover, Eberle Street, Liverpool was revamped with a unique paving and lighting scheme that pays homage to the mythical Emerald City of the Wizard of Oz, Yellow Brick Road and Judy Garland. Opened in conjunction with the Liverpool Pride weekend at the end of July 2016 to mark the annual celebration of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Liverpool, the works represented the biggest investment in the city’s LGBT quarter for a decade.

The design was a creative collaboration between the Liverpool BID Company, Liverpool City Council, Amey Consulting and award-winning Liverpool-based landscape architects BCA Landscape. The works were carried out by Amey and King Construction.

Our Journey

The original footway material of tarmac, with concrete kerbing, made way for a levelled street featuring a mix of Hardscape-supplied contemporary paving consisting of high quality Kobra and Crystal Black diamond-shaped granite paving interspersed with Kellen Liscio Giallo and Ambrogio paving incorporating inspirational bespoke elements, all lovingly crafted and produced by IP Surfaces, using Crystalpave re-cycled glass depicting illustrations from the Wizard of Oz including Dorothy’s slippers and Toto the dog!

The Eberle Street scheme was part of a larger £1.6 million programme to improve the business area and north-south pedestrian connections between the commercial district and the retail core of Liverpool city centre. The inventive facelift was to celebrate the city’s LGBT tradition and community with designs also inspired by the rich cultural history of bars in the area such as Garlands and Gbar.

Eberle Streets’ redesign required an imaginative approach that had the verve and style to celebrate its unique position and elevate it to a prominence it richly deserved and to promote the north-south walking routes between the district and the rest of Liverpool city centre. The redevelopment has also turned the area into a major tourist attraction.