A £130m mixed-use scheme on Liverpool’s Princes Dock, a World Heritage Site, has been given the go ahead by the city council.

The New World Square project – designed by John Lyall Architects – includes a five-star hotel, a health spa, restaurants, a public piazza and a rooftop observatory, as well as shops, offices and apartments.

John Lyall said: “The city council has acknowledged the care we have taken to deliver a scheme that is architecturally distinctive but also highly respectful of its setting within the World Heritage Site.

“The council and the various design and heritage bodies have been extremely anxious to secure a development of real quality and happily we have been able to fulfil their aspirations.”

Work is due to begin in the first half of this year and should be completed by the end of 2008.