Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/06/005

Address :
YMCA Building 179-187 Albertbridge Road Belfast County Antrim BT5 4PS

Townland:
Ballymacarret

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Survey 2:
B+

Date of Listing:
16/01/1987 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Church

Former Use
Recreational Club

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
130/14

IG Ref:
J3567 7392

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Owner Category

Commercial

Exterior Description And Setting

A three-storey seven-bay Edwardian Y.M.C.A. building erected 1903 to the designs of W.J.W. Roome; rectangular plan form with some alterations to the rear. Located on the Albertbridge Road at the cross road junction with Templemore Avenue; adjacent to 189 Albertbridge Road (HB26/06/007). Pitched natural slate roof with clay ridge tiles; moulded eaves; plain soffit and eaves brackets. Replacement extruded semi-circular gutters with circular downpipes. Red brick walling laid to Flemish bond with red sandstone dressing; gables generally flanked by semi-octagonal brick pilasters and terminated with ball finials; further ball finials over kneeler and apex stones. Double height timber casement oriel-bay windows with spandrel panels recessed into segmental-arched openings; sandstone springer blocks and hood mouldings. Replacement doors. The principal elevation faces north and is symmetrically arranged. The ground floor is made up of a series of shop fronts; formerly six now reconciled to two flanking either side of the centrally located main entrance to the upper floors above which mosaic inscribe with “MOUNTPOTTINGER Y.M.C.A”. The shop fronts are segmented by painted masonry pilasters rising to moulded cartouches on blank capitals with continuous enlarged ovolo cornice course over. Four-storied gabled central bay flanked by semi-octagonal plain brick pilasters terminated by large ball-finials; paired narrow double-height recessed oriel bays with moulded busts on key blocks and central double-spring block. The third floor rises above the eaves level, comprising four uniform square-headed 1/1 timber sash windows; continuous sandstone cill and moulded head; intersecting sandstone pilasters rising to the under side of the apex stone and flanking kneelers. Three double-height bays to the left and right over the ground floor shop fronts. The left gable is symmetrically arranged; blank painted brick ground floor with central blank canted bay. Cornice course between ground and first floor. Centrally located first floor oriel bay. Enlarged segmental-arched window to second floor flanked by two diminished windows; continuous cill course; hood mouldings. Brick chimney over gable apex. The rear elevation faces south and is asymmetrically arranged; largely altered. Three first floor roller shutters with wide segmental-arched windows over. The right is abutted by a historic three-storey former residential block; further modern and altered existing abutments; of no significant interest. The right gable is has asymmetrically ground floor with shop frontage to the left side and a square-headed infilled opening to the right. The upper floors are symmetrical comprising two narrow square-headed windows at first floor and second floor windows matching the left elevation. Setting: The building is prominently located at the junction of an arterial route to the east of Belfast. Surrounded by a cluster of socially significant historic buildings including schools (HB26/08/013), churches (HB26/08/004), swimming bath (HB26/08/003) and an orange hall, beyond which is largely two and three-storey terraced housing. The rear of the building now operates as a car park enclosed by a palisade fence. Immediately in front of the primary entrance is a contemporary bus shelter. Roofing : Natural slate Walling: Red brick Windows: Timber casement RWG: Extruded metal

Architects

Roome, WJW

Historical Information

The Irish Builder records that the Y.M.C.A. (Young Men’s Christian Association) building on the Albertbridge Road (nos 179-187) was constructed in 1903 by William John Waterman Roome (1865-1937). A Belfast based English architect of strong Christian principles, Roome operated his own practise and his work reflects his philanthropic nature as he designed Church buildings and also built a number of soldiers homes and halls intended to provide opportunities for self-improvement and harmless recreation; the Y.M.C.A. on Albertbridge Road is a typical example of Roome’s involvement in Christian projects. The current building was originally intended to be one of three blocks constructed along the Albertbridge Road, however only Block A was ever constructed at an estimated cost of £12,000; the foundation stone was laid on 14 October 1903 and the builders contracted to undertake the work were McLaughlin and Harvey (Irish Builder, Vol. 45, 19 November 1903, pp 2090-91; Dictionary of Irish Architects). The building incorporates seven bays on the ground floor, six of which were utilised from 1903 as commercial premises; the upper floors were set aside for use by the Mountpottinger Y.M.C.A. which was accessed by the double-arched centre bay on the ground floor, however the top floor was also used for technical classes in connection with the Municipal Technical College in 1907 (Ulster Towns Directory). The building was maintained by a caretaker who had a private dwelling on the attic floor; the 1911 Census records that this small dwelling consisted of four rooms. When the building was first constructed in 1903 the Annual Revisions valued the shops and individual floors separately; the Y.M.C.A. rooms on the first and second floor were valued at £45; the third floor was valued at £13 whilst the six shops on the ground floor were each valued between £20 and £30 (the caretaker’s residence on the attic floor was valued at £4). By 1928 all the upper floors of the Y.M.C.A. building were valued together at £57. Between 1903 and the end of the Annual Revisions in 1930 the upper rooms of the building were let out to a number of companies, for example in 1914 a hemstitching Factory operated from rooms on the first floor (before moving into the adjoining two-storey redbrick factory on 171 Templemore Avenue) and in 1928 Scottish Legal life Assurance and Co. had offices on the second floor. During the First World War a local group organised assistance to local families who had soldiers and sailors fighting overseas from an office on the first floor. By the First general Revaluation of Northern Ireland in 1935 the value of the Y.M.C.A. (which continued to occupy the first, second and third floors) had risen to £110. The premises on the ground floor continued to be valued between £20 and £30 individually; however by 1935 the two bays to the far left of the entrance (nos 185-187) had been combined to form one shop. The Y.M.C.A. building escaped damage during the Second World War when the immediate area was attacked in the 1941 Belfast Blitz. With the end of the war the government carried out the second revaluation of property in Northern Ireland; by 1956 the valuation of the Y.M.C.A. floors had increased through inflation to £540, however this was reduced under the 1957 Rent and Valuation Act to £432 and then £300 in 1958 at which it remained until the end of the revaluation in 1972. The shops on the ground floor saw a similar value increase to around £110-£120 by 1956 which were individually reduced to around £80-£90 each by 1958. In July 1952 an inventory and valuation of the property for insurance purposes was carried out which found the actual value of the entire building and its contents building to be £77,962 13s. 6d; this inventory recorded that the Y.M.C.A. still occupied the first and second floors in 1952. At that time first floor consisted of the main meeting hall, named the Sir. Samuel Kelly Hall after a local coal importer and philanthropist (1879-1937) who is commemorated by a Ulster History Circle Plaque on nearby Castlereagh Street, a reading room, kitchen and activity rooms. The second floor included games rooms, a gymnasium and orchestra room whilst the general office of the Y.M.C.A. was based on the ground floor; further the inventory recorded that the shops on the ground floor measured 17 by 36 ft and were installed with fireproof ceilings In his illustrated architectural guide of Belfast Larmour described the Mountpottinger Y.M.C.A. as ‘the best display in Belfast of the recessed Oriel,’ a window type favoured during the Queen Anne Revival, and included an original perspective sketch of the site which shows that Roome originally intended to construct a ventilator turret at the top of the building, however this was not built. In recent years the three bays on either side of the ground floor entrance have been interconnected and converted into two large commercial premises; this conversion was carried out sometime after it was listed in 1986 when the First Survey image still depicted six separate shops on the ground floor of the site. The Y.M.C.A. used the upper floors of the building until 1982 after which time the former meeting halls fell into a state of disrepair; in recent years the building was given a £1.4 million renovation and in 2009 a Christian denominational church, Exchange, occupied the building. References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/3/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey map 1902 2. PRONI OS/6/3/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey map 1920-21 3. PRONI OS/6/3/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey map 1931 4. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/A/30 – Annual Revisions 1897-1905 5. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/L/4 – Annual Revisions 1906-1914 6. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/L/8 – Annual Revisions 1915-1930 7. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/L/11 - Annual Revisions 1915-1930 (2) 8. PRONI VAL/3/B/3/11 – First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1935 9. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/25 – Second General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1956-1972 10. PRONI D/3788/4/2/7 – Inventory and valuation of buildings ... the property of the Mountpottinger Young Men’s Christian Association for insurance purposes (July 1952) 11. Irish Builder, Vol. 45, 19 November 1903 12. Belfast Street Directories (1901; 1907; 1908; 1910; 1918) Secondary Sources 1. Larmour, P., ‘Belfast: An illustrated architectural guide’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1987. 2. First Survey Record – HB26/06/005 (1986) Online Resources 1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie 2. Exchange Church Website - http://www.exchangechurchbelfast.co.uk/

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

Historic Interest

R. Age S. Authenticity T. Historic Importance X. Local Interest Z. Rarity V. Authorship Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance

Evaluation

A three-storey seven-bay Edwardian Y.M.C.A. Building constructed 1903 to the designs of W.J.W. Roome. Prominently sited on the junction of Templemore Avenue and Albertbridge Road, near Belfast city centre, the building contributes positively to the overall setting. Externally the building has retained its exuberant architectural features and in particular uses the repetition recessed oriel bay windows to good effect. Internally, the ground floor has been split into two shops units in recent years, and the upper floors largely refurbished. Despite the reconciliation of the ground floor shops, and the changed use of the upper floors, the building has essentially retained its original function. Of significant social interest, the building is an important local landmark in the area, continuing to provide an important role to the local community.

General Comments

Date of Survey

05 May 2011