Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/50/228 A

Address :
25-33 Donegall Place Belfast Co Antrim BT1 5FE

Townland:
Town Parks

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Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
26/06/1979 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Shop

Former Use
Shop

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
130-13 SE

IG Ref:
J3380 7419

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Owner Category

Commercial

Exterior Description And Setting

Symmetrical multi-bay four-storey stucco-fronted commercial building, built c.1880, to the designs of James F. Mackinnon, remodelled c.1930 to the designs of P.J. Wellwood and refurbished with shopfronts inserted c.2000. Rectangular on plan and fronting east onto Donegall Place with a central opening providing access to Queen’s Arcade (HB26/50/228B). Pitched natural slate roof with roll-moulded ridge tiles and pair of hipped roofs to rear projections of the rear. Pair of copper-clad pavilion roofs to either end bay having decorative wrought-iron cresting. Painted stucco rendered walls throughout. Square-headed window openings with steel casement windows. Symmetrical east front elevation is six windows wide with a central gable rising above the parapet wall and a further diminutive gablet to either end bay. The central gablet has a corbelled out central pier clasped by colonettes flanked by foliate panels and supporting a sculpted miniature chateau to the apex resting on a moulded base. Below the gable is a diamond-shaped plaque with monogram below; ‘AR’. Clock face to the centre of facade at second floor level. Continuous corbelled sill courses at each level. Pilasters rising from the first floor to parapet level as squat piers to all but central bay, surmounted by ball finials and framing iron rails. Third floor window openings have corbelled reveals and decorative cornice supported on console brackets. Second floor windows have continuous hood mouldings with foliate keystones. First floor windows are set within stop-chamfered round-headed surrounds having decorative overpanels, arch mouldings rising from impost mouldings and continuous string course over having foliate spandrels over the arches. Replacement hardwood shopfronts to the ground floor with central splayed entrance to the arcade all framed by replacement timber pilasters with gableted console brackets and full-span fascia over. South side elevation abutted by adjoining late twentieth-century building. Rear elevation abutted by arcade (HB26/50/228B) and a flat-roofed three-storey accretion. Square-headed window openings with single-pane timber sash windows. North side elevation abutted by adjoining building No.27 (HB26/50/030). Setting Forming part of a terrace of commercial buildings of various dates and heights facing east onto Donegall Place. Roof: Natural slate RWG : steel Walling: stucco Windows: Steel & timber

Architects

Mackinnon, James F

Historical Information

No's 29-33 Donegall Place, a four-storey stucco building, is the Donegall Place entrance building to Queen’s Arcade, a long commercial arcade that extends from Donegall Place to Fountain Street. The structure was constructed in 1880 in tandem with the arcade which was established in the same year (for the history of Queen’s Arcade see HB26/50/228B); prior to the completion of the late-Victorian building no's 29-33 Donegall Place had been the site of three separate commercial properties which included William Dickson & Co.’s umbrella and walking stick shop, a warehouse and a fancy toyshop operated by Henry Wharton (Belfast Street Directory – 1877). The Annual Revisions record that Queens Arcade Chambers was completed in 1880; the valuer noting that the building was constructed for George Fisher, the proprietor of the Castle Restaurant and Bar which had formerly been located at No. 31 Castle Lane (Belfast Street Directory – 1880). George Fisher’s Queen’s Arcade Chambers consisted of two ground floor retail units (No. 29 and No. 33 Donegall Place) which were separated by Queen’s Arcade (No. 31); the three upper floors of the building consisted of a number of offices and were also utilised by Fisher as the new premises for his Castle Restaurant and Bar. The Annual Revisions note that in 1880 Queen’s Arcade Chambers (excluding Queen’s Arcade to the rear) was valued at £510; in that year George Fisher was recorded as the sole occupant of the entire building, however the ground floor units and upper floors were swiftly leased out to tenants from 1881. George Fisher continued to administer Queen’s Arcade Chambers until 1895 when the property was purchased outright by Otto Jaffe (1846-1929), one of the largest linen suppliers in Ireland who possessed a linen warehouse in Bedford Street and was a twice elected Mayor of Belfast (in 1899 and 1904). In 1895 the total value of Queen’s Arcade Chambers had been increased to £674 10s; the Belfast Street Directories noted that in 1901 William Dickson & Co.’s umbrella shop continued to occupy No. 29 Donegall Place whilst the opposite No. 33 was the shop of Robert Glass & Co., a linen merchant. The first floor of the building, formerly occupied by the Castle Restaurant and Bar, was still used as dining premises but had been renamed ‘Johnson’s Luncheon and Tea Rooms;’ the second and third floors were occupied by a variety of private tenants and businesses including a Christian meeting room, solicitors offices, a number of textile merchants, estate agents, engravers and clothing warehouses (Belfast Street Directories – 1901). There were a number of changes to the occupants of Queen’s Arcade Chambers over the following three decades; by 1910 No. 33 Donegall Place had passed to the Cahoon Bros., local jewellers, watch and clock makers who also operated as opticians. In 1918 the café on the first floor had once more changed its name when it was known as the Castle Tea Rooms, whilst No. 29 Donegall Place was now the premises of Brand & Co., a fancy clothing company (Belfast Street Directory – 1901-1918). By the cancellation of the Annual Revisions in 1930 the total rateable value of the Queen’s Arcade Chambers had been greatly increased to £1,260. The Irish Builder records that in 1930 Queen’s Arcade Chambers was remodelled when Austin Reed Ltd., a clothing store, came into possession of most of the building; the alteration work was carried out by Percy James Westwood, a London-based architect who had also built a factory for Bryce & Weston in Derry in 1922. The inscribed lettering ‘AR’ on the facade of the building dates from the 1930 remodelling for Austin Reed (Irish Builder, p. 1087; Dictionary of Irish Architects). Under the First General Revaluation of property in Northern Ireland (1935) No. 29 Donegall Place continued to be occupied by Brand & Co., whilst Austin Reed occupied No. 33 and all the upper floors of the building which then housed showrooms, a hairdressing salon and stores; in 1935 the value of the site was adjusted to £1,991 under the revaluation. There was no further valuation of the site carried out due to the disruption caused by the Second World War; in 1943 during the conflict Austin Reed and Brand & Co. continued to be listed as the main occupants of the building (Belfast Street Directory – 1943). Under the second revaluation (1956-72) Austin Reed still occupied the majority of Queen’s Arcade Chambers, including No. 33 Donegall place whilst Brand & Co. maintained their shop at No. 29; the total value of the building by the end of the revaluation in 1972 stood at £3,452. Donegall Place was originally the location of Belfast Castle gardens prior to the building’s destruction in 1708; in the 1780s the current street was laid out providing a link, from the original 17th century centre of the town, to the White Linen Hall erected in 1783-85. Originally known as Linen Hall Street, the avenue was renamed Donegall Place in c. 1810 when the area around the Linen Hall was renamed Donegall Square in honour of the Second Marquis of Donegall who resided at Donegall House (which formerly stood at the corner of the square and Donegall Place). Donegall Place was at the very edge of Belfast in the early-19th century and then consisted mainly of private dwelling occupied by the leading citizens of the town. During the 19th century the central location of the thoroughfare, coupled with the expansion of the town and the granting of city status in 1888, resulted in the commercialisation of Donegall Place. The vast majority of the buildings along the street date from the mid-to-late-Victorian period; the sole surviving Georgian remnant of Donegall Place is nos 25-27 Donegall Place (HB26/50/030) which adjoins Queens Arcade Chambers (Beckett, pp 28-29; Patton, p. 102). Patton and Larmour state that Queen’s Arcade Chambers, along with the associated Queen’s Arcade, was designed by James Francis Mackinnon, a Belfast-based architect active in Belfast from 1863; in 1880 when he designed Queen’s Arcade, Mackinnon was the official architect to the Belfast Union Board of Guardians (Dictionary of Irish Architects). Queen’s Arcade Chambers was completed in 1880 and has undergone a number of alterations throughout its history. The first major change was the redesign of the building to accommodate Austin Reed’s store in 1930; Larmour states that as a result of this redesign ‘some of the ornamental detail of the [original] pavilioned roofed frontage was lost’ (Larmour, p. 47). Patton states that between 1987 and 1993 a canopy was added to the entrance of the arcade, however this was removed by 1993 when Patton visited the building (Patton, p. 104). No's 29-33 Donegall Place was listed in 1979; Patton, writing in 1993, described the Queen’s Arcade Chambers in the following terms: four-storey stucco building with iron cresting, copper pyramidal roofs and small central gable; ground floor fascia terminates with giant swags; shallow pilasters broken by cornice at each floor level … in front of the gable in a model of a fairy tale castle, presumably a fanciful reference to the old Belfast Castle’ (Patton). Queen’s Arcade Chambers is still utilised as commercial premises; Nos 29 and 33 Donegall Place continue to be occupied as retail units however the upper floors are currently lying vacant and are utilised as general storage space. References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/1/61/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1858 2. PRONI OS/6/1/61/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1901-02 3. PRONI OS/6/1/61/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1931 4. PRONI OS/6/1/61/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1938 5. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/D/1-14 – Annual Revisions 1862-1896 6. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/C/34-42 - Annual Revisions 1897-1930 7. PRONI VAL/3/B/3/14 – First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1935 8. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/38 – Second General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1956-1972 9. Belfast Street Directories (1877-1943) 10. Irish Builder, Vol. 72 (6 Dec 1930) 11. First Survey Record – HB26/50/030 (1971) 12. First Survey Image – HB26/50/030 (1976) 13. Ordnance Survey Map – 130-13SE (1959) Secondary Sources 1. Beckett, J. C., ‘Belfast: The making of the city’ Belfast: Appletree Press, 1983. 2. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Buildings of Belfast: 1700-1914’ Belfast: Friar’s Bush Press, 1985. 3. Larmour, P., ‘Belfast: An illustrated architectural guide’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1987. 4. 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 I. Quality and survival of Interior K. Group value

Historic Interest

X. Local Interest V. Authorship

Evaluation

Symmetrical multi-bay four-storey stucco-fronted commercial building, built c.1880, to the designs of James F. Mackinnon, remodelled c.1930 to the designs of P.J. Wellwood and refurbished with new shopfronts c.2000. The Art Deco detailing to the staircase is of quality and a noteworthy survival, with the lift, in the City. Although compromised by internal modernisation of the ground floor, much historic fabric and detailing survive and its character is of note. As a whole the building is a good example of its type and as part of the commercial development of the City centre in the late Victorian era.

General Comments

Previously recorded as HB26/50/030 B

Date of Survey

03 December 2012