Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/50/259

Address :
War Memorial Building 9 Waring Street Belfast Co Antrim BT1 2DX

Townland:
Town Parks

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Survey 2:
B2

Date of Listing:
21/08/2015 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Office

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:
J3402 7446

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Owner Category

Central Govt Commercial

Exterior Description And Setting

A detached four storey Modernist building built to competition designs by J. Michael Bowley (in association with Granville Smyth of Belfast) in 1959 as a permanent War Memorial building for Northern Ireland. The building is of frame construction with set back attic floor. It sits set back from the south side of Waring Street. To the rear is a contemporaneous L-shaped wing. The flat roof has a large overhanging concrete eaves canopy over the attic level, the gable of which has a mansard profile. A copper clad squat round tower sits to west end, 3 flag poles sit behind the south parapet. The front and rear walls are of modular concrete framework with slate panels below window openings to the north elevation, brick to the south; the gable wall is of brown brick panels between the outline of the structural concrete frame. The ground floor wall, set back behind black slate square piloti, is clad with smooth-faced white concrete panels. Windows to the upper floors are single pane metal replacements, to the ground floor are full height metal replacements with varying panes, the windows to the southern return are uPVC. The main entrance has a replacement glazed metal doorway, an entrance to the upper floors is set in a 1970s extension to the west gable, the glazed entrance doors to the rear are timber. The front north elevation is 21 windows wide, 8 piloti form a colonnade at ground floor level. Full height windows sit in the second and third bays and the entrance is set back in the wall centred behind the fifth bay. A 1970s single storey entrance porch is set back to the west side. The east elevation of the main building has two windows flanking the central vertical structural framing, with the northern window at ground floor sitting at the front corner. The single storey building to the rear has five bays, three tall windows are flanked by brick panels; it is connected to the main building by a three paned glazed link with central double doors. The south elevation is symmetrical, the upper floors have 15 windows flanked by large brick panels with square windows. At ground floor level two full height windows align each with three window bays above, they are flanked by solid brick panels. A flat roofed link building projects from the west side. The north elevation to the rear building has two bays with windows running full width to the first floor. The west bay at ground level is glazed with central double doors. The east bay is obscured by a later flat roofed glazed link block leading to a single storey annexe (5 Waring Street) which houses a museum. It has a shallow pitched roof, is of similar concrete frame construction with brown brick infil panels and replacement windows, full-height to south elevation and at high level to north. The west elevation is similar to the east elevation but with one central window. A central single storey, rusticated rendered entrance porch has been added in the 1970s. Setting The building is set back from Waring Street behind plain metal railings on a pink granite kerb; a step running the full length of the building in front of the columns intersects the forecourt paved with concrete slabs. Vehicular access passes down the east side of the building to car parking at the rear. To the west is the Northern Whig HB26/50/060, opposite is HB26/50/246. Roof: Not seen Walls: precast concrete, stone and brick. Windows: metal and uPVC RWG: uPVC

Architects

Bowley, Michael

Historical Information

The Northern Ireland War Memorial Building, a four-storey modern block building located at nos 9-13 Waring Street, was opened in 1963; the building was constructed between 1959 and 1963 on waste ground resulting from bombing during the Belfast Blitz in May 1941. The War Memorial building was built over a decade after the end of the Second World War; the building’s website notes that the building was intended as ‘a memorial to those who sacrificed their lives in WW1 and WW2; a hall of friendship to record the friendship between the people of Northern Ireland and the American and Belgian forces during WW2; offices for Service Charities, and entertainment facilities for ex-servicemen’ (NI War Memorial website). The Ordnance Survey map for 1959-60 shows that the Royal Ulster Rifles Museum, a two-storey L-shaped extension to the rear of the main block, was constructed at the same time as the main building. The modern design was the result of an architectural competition won by English architect J. Michael Bowley who was based in Sevenoaks, Kent and was in the Royal Army Service Corps during the Second World War. Although the design was awarded to an English engineer, the work was supervised by local architect, Granville Smyth who had designed the nearby Property House at nos 9-13 Rosemary Street in 1957. The Second General Revaluation of Northern Ireland recorded that the completed four-storey building was occupied by the Council of the Northern Ireland War Memorial who also owned the building outright; the total rateable value of the building was settled at £520 and remained at that level by the end of the revaluation in 1972. Patton states that the War Memorial building was constructed on the site of the former Queen’s Arms Hotel, (c. 1840) which was described as ‘one of the most commodious houses of the kind in town,’ and a number of commercial shops. With the Belfast Blitz, large waste grounds were created around central Belfast including the Waring Street, Bridge Street and High Street areas; after the end of the Second World War the War Memorial building was erected and opened by HM The Queen Mother in 1963. In 1993 Patton described the war memorial building in the following terms: ‘four-storey block with set back attic level; ground floor recessed behind dark grey piloti, rows of windows on upper floors with slate base panels; flagstaffs at attic level’ (Patton, p. 329). The War Memorial building was primarily used to illustrate the role played by local ex-servicemen and recognise the wartime camaraderie that was forged between Northern Ireland and its allies; in 1996 a permanent exhibition was established to ‘illustrate the role of Northern Ireland and its people in the Allied Victory in World War Two.’ On the completion of the building in 1963 the building’s offices were fully occupied, however in later years the rooms of the ex-servicemen organisations gradually fell vacant. In 2006 the Council of the Northern Ireland War Memorial decided to sell nos 9-13 Waring Street and move to a new headquarters at No. 21 Talbot Street. Original fittings and features from Waring Street were installed at Talbot Street including the original stained glass memorial window by Stanley Murray Scott, a Belgian marble war memorial plaque, a copper frieze by James McKendry and two Rolls of Honour (NI War Memorial website). Although the War Memorial Building is no longer used for its original purpose, the two-storey extension to the rear of the building continues as a museum to the Royal Ulster Rifles, commemorating the history of the regiment from 1793 with exhibits including uniforms, badges, medals and other memorabilia (Army Museums website). References Primary Sources 1. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/42 – Second General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1956-1972 2. Ordnance Survey Map – 130-13NE (1959-60) Secondary Sources 1. Patton, M., ‘Central Belfast: An historical gazetteer’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1993. Online Resources 1. Northern Ireland War Memorial Website - http://www.niwarmemorial.org/ 2. Army Museums Website - http://www.armymuseums.org.uk/museums/0000000121-Royal-Ulster-Rifles-Museum.htm

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form F. Structural System H-. Alterations detracting from building J. Setting

Historic Interest

V. Authorship X. Local Interest Z. Rarity

Evaluation

Detached four storey building constructed 1958 to designs by Michael Bowley of Glasgow. The original modular, unembellished character of the Modern Movement survives, although some historic detailing has been lost with the replacement of the fenestration and the transfer to new premises of interior features. Designed as a permanent War Memorial Building on the site of buildings obliterated by the Belfast Blitz and also of interest as the result of a nationwide competition. The presence of the Royal Ulster Rifles museum adds to the interest of the site. It is a good example of the type and unusual in the Province.

General Comments

Also HB26/LQ235

Date of Survey

17 December 2012