Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/50/100

Address :
State Buildings 16-22 Arthur Street Belfast Co Antrim BT1 4GD

Townland:
Town Parks

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Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
08/08/1988 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Shop

Former Use
Office

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
130-13

IG Ref:
J3398 7418

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Owner Category

Commercial

Exterior Description And Setting

Attached symmetrical multi-bay five-storey red brick and faience office building, built in 1902, to the designs of Graeme Watt and Tulloch with a shallow loggia to the top floor and replacement timber shopfronts inserted to the ground floor. Gutted or rebuilt behind retained facades c.1985 and extended to the rear to the designs of Building Design Partnership with a south facing side elevation emulating the original design and fronting onto Arthur Place. Pie-ended slate roof with moulded guttering and modillions to overhanging eaves. Machine-made red brick walling laid in Flemish bond with flush faience quoins, faience frieze and cornice over the third floor. Square-headed window openings with flush interlocking faience lintels, stone sills and fixed-pane bipartite metal windows with leaded overlights. Symmetrical west front elevation is nine windows wide with advanced end bays and a recessed loggia-type colonnaded top floor. The top floor is set behind a parapet wall with moulded stone coping and paired fluted Ionic faience columns supporting the eaves. Round-headed windows to the top floor with rendered archivolts and continuous impost mouldings, arranged in a group of three to the centre and paired to either side. The advanced end bays have three-sided canted timber windows with leaded glazing flanked by Ionic columns and panelled faience pilasters resting on a balustrade faience parapet. The windows to the first, second and third floors on the advanced bays are tripartite with moulded faience surrounds including sills, transoms and mullions. Windows to the remainder of the front elevation are arranged in groups of three to the centre, paired to either side with a tripartite timber oriel window to the first floor having bowed sidelights, timber frieze and dentilled lead-lined cornice. Replacement timber shopfronts span the entire ground floor with full-span fascia and lead-lined cornice. North side elevation abutted by adjoining building Arthur Chambers (No.6-16). Rear elevation abutted by five-storey red brick extension, built c.1985, in a similar style to the main block. South side elevation is three windows wide with the advanced end bay returning onto the left of the elevation and detailed as per front elevation. Setting: Corner-sited with the front elevation facing west onto Arthur Street and the south side elevation fronting onto Arthur Place. Roof : Pie-ended slate RWG: Replacement moulded steel Walling: Machine-made red brick / faience Windows: Original bipartite fixed-pane metal and leaded overlights

Architects

Graeme, Watt and Tulloch

Historical Information

Nos 16-22 Arthur Street, a five-storey redbrick office block (known as the State Buildings), was constructed in 1902 for Cabinetmakers, Wright & Hunter Ltd. The firm had occupied previous offices on the same site; the Belfast Street Directory for 1901 described Wright & Hunter as ‘cabinetmakers and upholsterers, carpet warehousemen, bed and bedding manufacturers and general house furnishers.’ In the following year their original offices on Arthur Street were demolished and the new Edwardian shop and warehouse erected to designs by Graeme Watt & Tulloch, a local architectural firm formed in 1895 by Robert Graeme Watt (c. 1849-c. 1915) and Frederick Henry Tulloch (1863-1953). The firm predominantly designed commercial buildings in the centre of Belfast and were responsible for Avenue Hall on Lower Garfield Street and William Ross & Son’s Mineral Water factory on William Street South (HB26/50/177) (Irish Builder, p. 1060; Dictionary of Irish Architects). When completed nos 16-22 Arthur Street was valued at £500 in the Annual Revisions (Wright & Hunter’s original office had been a much smaller building valued at £150); there was no alteration to the value of the building by the end of the Annual Revisions which were cancelled in 1930 and the Belfast Street Directories also noted no change, although in 1918 the directory recorded that Wright & Hunter also operated as dealers in antique china and furniture. Wright & Hunter continued to operate from the offices on Arthur Street until c. 1930 when the building was purchased by Brumor Ltd., who carried out a major renovation of the premises which included the conversion of the ground floor shop and upper warehouse into a number of smaller individual shop units whilst the upper floor was turned into office space. With the renovation a number of Art Deco chromium shop fronts and an ornate entrance porch were installed (but removed in 1984). The conversion of the building was undertaken by Samuel Stevenson & Sons, a Belfast-based architectural firm formed by John Hamilton Stevenson and William James Hamilton Stevenson in the wake of their father Samuel Stevenson’s death in 1924; the family firm primarily designed and altered commercial property in Belfast’s city centre (Irish Builder, p. 112; Dictionary of Irish Architects). In 1935 the State Buildings were included in the First General Revaluation of property in Northern Ireland which greatly increased the total value of the building to £2,026. The valuer noted that there were four ground floor retail units which totalled £992, whilst the upper floors were utilised as office space leased out to a variety of tenants and other businesses by Brumor Ltd. (the upper offices were valued at £1,034 10s.). The State Buildings survived the heavy bombardment of Belfast’s city centre during the 1941 Blitz; during the Second World the upper offices of nos 16-22 Arthur Street were occupied by tenants as diverse as accountants, insurance brokers, estate agents, solicitors, dressmakers, charitable organisations, stationary suppliers and a masseur; the ground floor shops were occupied by two coal suppliers and a jewellers whilst one of the units lay vacant (Belfast Street Directory – 1943). By the second revaluation, which commenced in the 1950s, the ground floor units had been converted into a single commercial shop valued at £288; the upper floors continued to be utilised as office space and were jointly valued at £1,645 5s., making the total value of the building £1,935 5s. at which it remained by the end of the revaluation in 1972. Arthur Street was named after one of the Earls of Donegall (many of whom were given the name) and during the early 19th century the street was known for its fine residences, however during the commercial redevelopment of Belfast’s city centre in the Victorian period, the street took on its current character. Domestic dwellings were replaced by retail shops and office buildings; other examples of this commercial redevelopment include the Mayfair Building (HB26/50/096) and the former Trustees Savings Bank (HB26/50/171), both of which were constructed on Arthur Street. The State Buildings were constructed in the Edwardian period and is an interesting example of the aesthetic experimentation employed during the period; Larmour states that Watt & Tulloch combined a variety of Renaissance styles in their design including a top-floor loggia and ‘effective use of the Ipswich Oriel.’ With the 1930s renovation of the building, the installation of Art Deco shopfronts at ground level further emphasised the eclectic character of the building. Patton described nos 16-22 Arthur Street as a ‘five-storey office building in red brick with faience details, notably in banded quoins to slightly set forward corner towers, and in shallow attic level below deep blocked eaves. Oriel window at first floor with curved side panels; all other windows casements with fixed pane leaded lights; recessed attic storey with corner loggias framed by fluted columns’ (Larmour, p. 68; Patton, p. 20). In 1984 an extension was added to the rear of the State Buildings; the structure had originally only extended three bays into Arthur Place, however Building Design Partnership added an additional four bays in a sympathetic style which mirrored both the loggia and the oriel windows of the original design. Unfortunately, the Art Deco shopfronts added by Samuel Stevenson & Sons were replaced during this extension work (Patton). The State Buildings were listed in 1988 and continue to be occupied as retail premises on the ground floor, whilst the upper floors continue to be utilised as office space. References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/1/61/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1901-02 2. PRONI OS/6/1/61/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1931 3. PRONI OS/6/1/61/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1938 4. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/C/17-45 – Annual Revisions 1897-1930 5. PRONI VAL/3/B/3/13 – First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1935 6. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/38 – Second General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1956-72 7. Irish Builder, Vol. 43 (27 Feb 1902); Vol. 11 (1 Jul 1933) 8. Belfast Street Directories (1901-1943) 9. First Survey Image – HB26/50/100 (1977) Secondary Sources 1. Larmour, P., ‘Belfast: An illustrated architectural guide’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1987. 2. Patton, M., ‘Central Belfast: An historical gazetteer’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1993. Online Resources 1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form H-. Alterations detracting from building

Historic Interest

X. Local Interest V. Authorship Z. Rarity

Evaluation

Attached symmetrical multi-bay five-storey red brick and faience office building, built in 1902, to the designs of Graeme Watt and Tulloch with a shallow loggia to the top floor and modern timber shopfronts inserted at ground floor. Built as an office development, this early 20th century building exhibits an array of architectural devices such as faience details, an oriel window and a top floor loggia giving it a unique appearance among City centre buildings. Although compromised by the loss of internal fabric and detailing, much historic fabric survives and this is an unusual example of the ongoing commercial development of the City and an example of the work of architects of note.

General Comments

Date of Survey

04 December 2012