Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB23/05/028

Address :
Bank of Ireland 82A Main Street Bangor Co Down BT20 4AG

Townland:
Corporation

---

Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
16/02/1994 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Bank

Former Use
Bank

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

---

OS Map No:
115/12

IG Ref:
J5050 8169

---

Owner Category

Financial

Exterior Description And Setting

A three/four-storey over basement, seven-bay Art Deco Bank of Ireland, built c.1937 to designs by A.G.C. Millar of Dublin. Irregular plan form located centrally within Bangor Town, on Main Street opposite listed structures HB25/05/001 and HB23/05/025, at the junction of Main Street and Hamilton Road. The roofing is a felt covered flat roof. Cast-iron rainwater goods to the rear of the building. The walling is Portland stone to ground floor terminated by continuous projecting stone string course; upper floors are brown brick Flemish bond rising to painted stone parapet level. Obscured chimney stacks with variable pots. Replacement PVC windows with plain smooth stone surrounds; replacement shop fronts to ground floor level. Double leaf timber door with vertical arrangement of varied and fielded panels with original ironmongery. The principal elevation faces east and is symmetrically arranged; four-storey recessed central bay with matching three-storeys to either side. The principal entrance is located centrally within a splayed recess flanked by two small oblong windows. First and second floor windows are set in a double-height Portland stone panel with heavy section mullions; chevron embossed panels between first and second floor; clock face above; rising to parapet level, symmetrical stone stepped Art-Deco formation embracing tripartite window to third-floor. Balcony railing at first floor level removed. To either side of central tower is modern shop front ground floor; side bays are three windows wide to first floor with matching, slightly diminished second floor rising to matching stepped parapet level. South elevation matching in detail. No openings to ground floor. Single window to first and second floor. West (rear) elevation; irregular form with projections at various heights and levels; render finish, no decoration. Forms part of an enclosed yard. North elevation three-storey, five windows wide. Elevation kinked to follow alignment of road; replacement shop frontage to ground floor. Single diminutive window at first floor level of two storey section on the right hand side. Adjacent secured gated entrance to yard to right of no interest. Setting The building is sited at the convergence of Hamilton Road and Castle Street with Main Street, in the vicinity of several other listed structures. Main Street is lined with two and three storey retail and commercial premises. Central Avenue located to the north of the site is a secondary route and lined primarily with two-storey, smaller retail and residential premises. Walling Portland stone/render/brick Roofing Felt Window uPVC RWG Cast iron

Architects

Millar, A G C

Historical Information

The Bank of Ireland building was constructed in 1935-7 to designs by Adam Gerald Chaytor Millar, Dublin-born architect to the Bank. Millar had previously been a partner in the firm of Millar & Symes, which provided architectural services to the Bank of Ireland. However, the pressure of work for the bank eventually grew so great that from 1926-7, Millar became the bank’s full-time employee with his own office on their premises and a staff of three. (Irish Builder, www.dia.ie) The Irish Builder announced the completion of the bank’s Bangor branch in May 1937 and state that the contractor was Isaac Copeland & Sons of Belfast. The ground floor of the building was faced in Portland Stone. (Irish Builder, www.dia.ie) The building is shown uncaptioned on the fifth edition OS map of 1939, replacing the Town Hall and Fire station. The Town Hall was housed in the former Bangor Endowed School building, at least one photograph of which has survived. This shows a two-storey, three-bay Tudorbethan building with label moulds. (Annual Revisions, Patton, p.130-1, Haines, p.54) Before the building of the school in 1856, the site was occupied by a gaol known as the ‘Black Hole’, ‘a place of confinement to which the Provost of Bangor could send disturbers of the peace’ (Patton, p.131). The Bank of Ireland had previously occupied premises on the corner of Quay Street and High Street. (Annual Revisions) Valuation records show that in November 1935 the old buildings on the site had been demolished and that ‘new bank premises’ were being erected. In December 1936 the building is roofed but has no internal walls and in May 1937 it was finally valued at £370, this valuation later being reduced to £320 on appeal. The valuer comments later that year that the building is a ‘modern bank – good position, well finished. Cost £18,000. Central heating throughout.’ (First General Revaluation) The building was a large one and parts of it were let out to various commercial and professional concerns. The shops at the front and side of the building were leased by the bank to the Belfast Co-operative Society, the bank being located in the rear of the building, with a strong room, porter’s room, heating chamber and lavatories in the basement. The manager lived in the upper floors of the building with a dining room, kitchen, scullery, larder, store, coal store and outside WC towards the rear of the first floor. On the second floor were two reception rooms, four bedrooms, a box room, bath and WC and on the third floor a single bedroom and a tank room. There was also garage space for his car on the ground floor. (First General Revaluation) The valuer commented in 1937 that the bank was of ‘pleasing design’ and had a ‘good entrance’ with offices that were ‘well fitted’ with ‘good natural lighting’. He found, however that the manager’s quarters suffered from the ‘usual defects i.e. the important thing is the ground floor plan for the business premises and the main structural walls are difficult to adapt to convenient house plans’. (First General Revaluation) The Co-operative Society occupied four shop premises on the ground floor together with a dispatch room, refrigerating room and lavatories. They also had a further four shop premises in the basement. Offices on the first floor were let to the Ministry of Finance for use as a Valuation Office, the valuers having noted that the new offices were ‘the best in the town’. Two firms of solicitors, W J Bradley and White, McMillan and Wheeler, also occupied offices on the first floor. (First General Revaluation) Alterations to the building have included the replacement of all windows, including shop fronts and the addition of a disabled users’ ramp to the front façade. The building remains in use as a bank with some vacant shop spaces on the ground floor. Office space on the first floor is currently vacant but the second floor is in use by a charity as administrative accommodation. References: Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/3/2/5 – Fifth Edition OS Map 1939 2. PRONI VAL/12/B/23/9A-S – Annual Revisions (1900-1930) 3. PRONI VAL/3/D/4/1D/18 – First General Revaluation - Valuer’s RV Binder (1933-57) 4. Irish Builder, Vol 79, 1 May 1937, p.393 5. Irish Builder, Vol 79, 15 May 1937, p.452 6. Spectator, 5th September, 1931 7. Spectator, 3rd April, 1937 8. Spectator, 10 July 1964 Secondary Sources 1. Haines, K “North Down Memories, Photographs 1860s-1960s” Belfast: Blackstaff Press, 2000 2. Patton, M, “Bangor, An Historical Gazetteer” Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1999 3. www.dia.ie – Dictionary of Irish Architects

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 J. Setting

Historic Interest

V. Authorship X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A three/four-storey over basement, seven bay Art Deco Bank of Ireland built c.1935 to designs by A.G.C. Millar of Dublin. The style and proportions of the building are representative of the corporate image of the Bank of Ireland architecture of this time. With no significant additions, the overall character survives; however the introduction of PVC windows and replacement shop fronts has compromised the interest of the building. Much of its original layout, many original details and its Art Deco styling survive. It is a good example of its type in a prominent location reflecting its robust character as a significant civic building.

General Comments

Date of Survey

06 September 2010