![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1_1000015706.jpg\")
The unusual windows, which dated back to the 1930s, were replaced with “bog standard” frames(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\nThe distinctive tall windows of the former Leaf building dated back to the 1930sThe unusual windows, which dated back to the 1930s, were replaced with “bog standard” frames(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n
The owner of a Bold Street building has been told to fix a problem after a set of art deco windows were ripped out and destroyed. The distinctive windows on the former Leaf restaurant building were removed without warning last month, and replaced with modern aluminium windows, described by one critic as ‘bog standard’.<\/p>\n
Following the closure of Leaf<\/a> in September, restaurant chain Loungers \u2013 behind popular locations such as Cosy Club \u2013 submitted a bid to Liverpool City Council to transform the building with new signage and lights. Planning documents show proposals for a “Deco Lounge” with the art deco windows intact.<\/p>\n An accompanying heritage statement reads: “The proposed use for the property as a caf\u00e9\/bar will retain its ‘outward looking’ character and maintain its integration within the life of the city.”<\/p>\n The ECHO<\/a> understands that the removal of the windows<\/a> was done by the landlord of the building, rather than Loungers. An enforcement case has been raised for the replacement windows, with the planning enforcement team and city officials investigating.<\/p>\n Liberal Democrat Councillor Liz Makinson told The ECHO she has been in touch with Liverpool City Council’s planning department, urging bosses to take action to restore the historic windows, which date back to the 1930s. The ECHO has been told the planning department is already looking into the matter ad is in conversation with the landlord’s representatives.<\/p>\n Cllr Makinson said: “There has been a lot of shock at what’s happened. I think people really miss the old Futurist cinema, which was bulldozed.<\/a> And the fact is, though the building is not listed, it is within the Bold Street conservation area, and Bold Street is part of the city that has undergone quite the revival.<\/p>\n “It seems like the council’s planning department are not on the ball enough about people not looking after listed properties or properties within conservation areas.<\/p>\n “When things like are lost, we will never get them back, and in a sense they belong to all of us. They’re part of our heritage within the city.”<\/p>\n “I have written to the council planning department to say there needs to be some enforcement. There are companies that still make replica windows like that, so there is no reason whatsoever that they cannot be told they have to put those windows back. It’s just a matter of having that political will to do that.<\/p>\n “You do have an obligation within a conservation area not to destroy something that is a significant accessory of an art deco building. To just rip that out and put the bog-standard windows in is really neglectful.”<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Loungers<\/a> said: “It is a beautiful Art Deco building and we are as disappointed as everyone else about the removal of the original Crittall windows.\u201d<\/p>\n Cllr Makinson said the destruction of the windows was “par for the course” after Liverpool was stripped of its World Heritage Status<\/a> in 2021 due to increasing developments.<\/p>\n She said: “If you look at the Old Abbey Cinema<\/a> in Wavertree<\/a>, that is a listed building but as far as I’m aware the council are not on the case to force Lidl [the owner] to preserve that building. They are just allowing it to deteriorate further<\/a> and further, the same way Woolton Hall did<\/a>.<\/p>\n “I think the issue of the building on Bold Street is really important, but I think there is also a wider lack of respect and acknowledgement of the importance of the built heritage of the city, going back to when Joe Anderson said World Heritage Status was just a plaque on the wall.<\/p>\n “As a history teacher for many years, I know children within the city have a real sense of the history of the city. They’re out of step with people of the city in not acknowledging the importance of our heritage.”<\/p>\n Liverpool City Council\u2019s Cabinet Member for Growth and Economy Nick Small said: “As soon as I was alerted about the unauthorised removal of the old 1930s Crittall windows and replacement with aluminium replacements I asked our planning team to investigate. There are ongoing discussions between the Council and conservation specialists appointed by the landlord, with a view to securing the instalment of suitable replacement windows. This will require the submission of a planning application in due course. Further action will be considered if there is a failure to replace the windows with an appropriate alternative, within an acceptable period of time.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0_JS297347226.jpg\")
The former Leaf on Bold Street, Liverpool<\/p>\n