The four-storey building will be a permanent home to an exhibition celebrating the life and career of Sir Ken Dodd, while also offering spaces for comedy workshops, talks and performances. The centre will be operated by The Comedy Trust which was formed in 2002. The Comedy Trust’s mission is to create happier, healthier people – a belief that Sir Ken Dodd shared.

The Happiness Centre will celebrate all forms of comedy and humour and provide opportunities for all to take part in a wide range of programmes, workshops and sessions with comedy, humour, health and wellbeing at their heart.

Through the lens of Doddy the Comedy Trust will highlight and explore Liverpool humour and the role the city played in becoming a cradle of entertainment for countless comedians. They will also look at Northern humour and identity as well as happiness and why laughter is good for our health.

The centre will be built on the land adjacent to Liverpool’s Royal Court, on the site currently occupied by Courtyard Bar & Kitchen. While construction takes place Courtyard will relocate and, once completed, the centre will house a new 100-seat restaurant.

The £10m project will be designed by Stirling Prize winning architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM), who were also behind the extensive refurbishment of Liverpool’s Royal Court. Funding for the project is coming from a number of sources, primarily the Sir Ken Dodd Charitable Trust.

As well as being a home for comedy in the city, the building will join on to the theatre, creating new dressing rooms and office space that will allow the staging of larger and more ambitious works in the future.