Royal Albert Dock Liverpool

The Royal Albert Dock is defined by its massive, five-story red-brick warehouses, which stand around a quiet inner basin and feature enormous cast-iron columns. Opened in eighteen forty-six, this complex was a marvel of Victorian engineering. To ensure his design was fireproof, the engineer Jesse Hartley built a test room out of brick and timber, packed it with tar, and burned it to the ground. Convinced by the result, he constructed the final dock using only stone, brick, and iron, omitting wood from every structural element.