Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/30/037

Address :
Havelock House 1 Havelock Street Ormeau Malone Lower BELFAST BT7 1EB **See General comments**

Townland:

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Survey 2:
D1 Record Only

Date of Listing:

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Office

Former Use
Office

Conservation Area:

Industrial Archaeology:

Vernacular:

Thatched:

Monument:

Derelict:

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OS Map No:
147/1 NE

IG Ref:
J3419 7316

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Owner Category

Private

Exterior Description And Setting

A multi-bay three-storey rendered commercial building, now housing the headquarters of Ulster Television. Rendered walling and replacement windows; interior substantially refurbished. This building was surveyed in the First Survey but not listed. A partial record only was taken during the Second Survey as the building is not worthy of a full survey.

Architects

Historical Information

The original – Victorian - section of Havelock House was built in two distinct phases. The western portion (as demarcated by the westernmost chimneystack), originally 1 Havelock Street, was constructed as a linen warehouse for James Thompson & Sons, linen and cambric manufacturers, and is first recorded in the valuation book in 1871 and shown on the OS town plan of 1873. Thompson (d.1875) lived at a large, pre-1839, double-fronted house to the northeast of this (formerly no.83 Ormeau Road), and the new warehouse appears to have been built as an adjunct to existing ones he possessed to the rear of his home. In 1883 the firm leased out the dwelling but retained the warehouses, which from this point began to be valued as a single property with that in Havelock Street. In 1896 the large L-shaped section at the intersection of Havelock Place and Ormeau Road was added, with the newly-expanded premises now abutting James Thompson’s former abode of no.83 to the north. The identity of the architects responsible for both sections of the building are not known. James Thompson & Sons went into liquidation in 1933 and the property (‘brick built with cut-stone dressings…3 storeys in height and containing approximately 14,153 superficial feet floor space, with covered gateway and two open yards’) was put up for sale or rent. From 1935 it was occupied by Batty Bros., tea importers. In January 1937 the building suffered serious fire damage with an estimated ‘one-third’ of the structure, mainly on the first and second floors, ‘gutted’; a contemporary photo shows quite a fierce blaze which at very least must have destroyed much, if not all of the roof and a substantial portion of the upper levels. Batty’s were able to carry on trading from part of the site quickly afterwards, but seem to have vacated the premises within the following few months. In mid-1939 it was advertised for rent once again; there is no mention in the advert of any damage, so presumably repairs had been carried out by this stage. During WWII the building was commandeered by the government and used to billet troops. Post-1945 it was brought back into private commercial use once again, with J.H. Fenner & Co. Ltd. - ‘Belting Manufacturers’ and J.M. Ritchie and Co. Ltd. - ‘Tennis wear, ladies' frocks and overalls’, based here in 1951. In 1958 it was put up for sale, the sale notice describing it as a ‘as a substantial factory building…of about 13,000 sq ft’ with ‘good natural lighting’. The property was subsequently acquired by Ulster Television (UTV), the company that had taken on the Independent Television (ITV) franchise for the Northern Ireland region, who converted the premises to serve as their new headquarters. The £50,000 conversion work was undertaken by architect Brian Hewitt (a native of Portadown and partner in the Belfast firm of Anthony F. Lucy) with technical design by Howard Steele, an Englishman, who had previously worked as a senior engineer on the conversion Teddington Studios for ABC Television (one of the four major ITV companies). Hewitt retained the 19th century framework and façade, albeit with the original brick finish now rendered, whilst internally new spaces were created, including a small (and as such, seemingly, innovative) all-purpose studio - later ‘Studio 1’, the architect describing the revamped structure as retaining ‘the Victorian character’ but with an ‘attractive modern air in keeping with the new and exciting entertainment medium’. Broadcasts at the re-christened ‘Havelock House’ began on 31 October 1959, with Sir Laurence Oliver (who was also one of the directors of the company) introducing the new station. In November 1962 UTV completed a £100,000 extension to the north side of the building which included a new 1,600sqft studio (‘Studio 2’), as well as make-up, scenery and office facilities. This scheme was again undertaken by Brian Hewitt, who the year previously had designed Channel Television’s new studio in Jersey, once again in conjunction with Howard Steele, (the pair commissioned, it would seem, on the back of their pioneering ‘small-scale’ work at UTV.) The new addition (which appears to have practically doubled the footprint of the building) was contrastingly modern, with the frontage on to Ormeau Road containing a stairwell housed in a glass curtain wall. Map evidence indicates that further alterations and additions were made to this side in subsequent years (certainly before 1984), with formerly separate properties along Ormeau Road to the north and Havelock Place to the west demolished in the process. The last major phase of works occurred in 1992-93 when a large extension was built to the west and north to house a larger studio, (assuming the title ‘Studio 1’), along with other production facilities and offices. This entailed the building over what had been Havelock Place, which, by this point had (along with the rest of Havelock Street) been divested of its remaining - largely 19th century – buildings and was being used as car-parking space. Upon completion of this section the original 1959 Studio 1 was taken out of use. UTV continued to broadcast from Havelock House until June 2018, when the station moved to a new premises at City Quays on the off Clarendon Road. References – Primary sources 1 Belfast Street directories (various publishers), 1839-1996 2 OS maps / town plans - 1843, 1858, 1873, 1902, 1938, 1959, 1963, 1986 3 PRONI VAL2B/7/1D Second valuation, Cromac Ward, 1859 4 PRONI VAL12B/43A/3, 13 Annual valuation revision books, Cromac Ward, 1863-81, 1882-97 5 ‘Belfast Telegraph’, 1 April 1871, 28 May 1875, 21 January 1937, 16 March 1959, 5 September 1961, 9 and 26 November 1962 6 ‘Northern Whig’, 30 May 1933 7 ‘Belfast News-Letter’, 20 October 1933, 20 January 1937 8 ‘Ballymena Weekly Telegraph’, 23 January 1937 9 ‘Irish Builder’ 103, 30 September 1961 Secondary sources 1 Information supplied by Dr. Ken Griffin, 2018-19

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

Not listed

Historic Interest

Not listed

Evaluation

A multi-bay three-storey rendered commercial building, now housing the headquarters of Ulster Television. Rendered walling and replacement windows; interior substantially refurbished. This building was surveyed in the First Survey but not listed. A partial record only was taken during the Second Survey as the building is not worthy of a full survey.

General Comments

A multi-bay three-storey rendered commercial building, now housing the headquarters of Ulster Television. Rendered walling and replacement windows; interior substantially refurbished. This building was surveyed in the First Survey but not listed. A partial record only was taken during the Second Survey as the building is not worthy of a full survey.

Date of Survey

25 May 2011