Allied Irish Bank

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Late-Victorian three-storey over basement Italianate-style bank building situated on the corner site of Shipquay Street and Richmond Street, constructed in phases between 1890 and 1895. The current building occupies the site of two previous buildings. No.15 was rebuilt in 1890 to designs by Croom & Toye for the Provincial Bank of Ireland. The second phase of construction of the current building was in 1895 including the replacement of the former property at No.17 Shipquay Street, built in similar style to its neighbour, to designs by James Croom. Further extensions to the Richmond Street elevation were added in 1980. The current building has 6 bays to North West Shipquay Street elevation, set behind a low balustraded painted wall with piers turning the corner at the former (Richmond Street) North East elevation of five bays wide; chamfered corner has a single bay on each level. Walling is of painted render to all elevations with rustication on ground floor level. Located on the South East side of Shipquay Street set within the historic city walls on an elevated site overlooking Shipquay Gate to the NE and Guildhall outside the walls. Today the building remains vacant.

Low balustraded parapet wall with piers to a hipped roof with a platform centre section. Deep projecting moulded cornice with modillion blocks to projecting eaves below parapet wall.

Principal elevation faces North West onto Shipquay Street, sloping down the hill towards Shipquay Gate, seven bays wide divided by alternating diamond-faced and fielded chamfered quoins with two bays to the left and four to the right of the quoin stones; three-sided canted bay window centred on elevation rises from basement level to first floor level with a moulded cornice between ground and first floor windows and moulded panels to parapet above first floor windows; all windows are square headed, first floor windows have aedicules with a small Corinthian column to either side and a segmental pediment over; tripartite window on ground and first floor levels to the left side bay; second floor windows have shouldered moulded architrave surrounds and keystones; continuous painted sill-course to ground floor windows and three blind bays on basement level left of canted bay. Main entrance is accessed directly off Shipquay Street positioned to the extreme right side on ground floor level with a semicircular opening flanked by large foliated stone corbel brackets with acanthus leaf detail above red granite columns on plinth bases; opening has a moulded soffit and plain fanlight below to a pair of six-panel timber doors with a timber entablature and dentilled cornice above.

The chamfered corner at Shipquay Street and Richmond Street comprises of an exposed basement level with a blind bay set behind a balustraded wall abutting the chamfered wall on the corner, and above on ground floor level a semicircular arched headed window with moulded architrave surrounds and keystones. The first floor has an oriel window, and the second floor a shouldered architrave surround containing a date stone of 1895.

North East elevation (leading to the Richmond Centre Mall) is five bays wide; square headed windows to ground floor level; first floor windows have aedicules with same detailing to that on the North West elevation; second floor windows have shouldered moulded architrave surrounds and keystones; the bays are divided by alternating diamond-faced and fielded chamfered quoins with two bays to the right and three to the left side; four segmental arched headed bays to exposed basement level, two on the right side are concealed containing automated teller machines to each, left side bays have 1/1 timber sliding sash windows with metal window bars to opening; segmental arched door opening left of window bays contains a decorative rendered surround with moulded pilasters to either side and a moulded cornice above with a pair of timber panelled modern doors with plain architrave surround.

Materials:
Roof Unknown (not seen)
RWG Cast-iron
Walling Rendered
Windows Timber sliding sashes

Setting:
Located on the South East side of the steep hill of Shipquay Street, situated within a terrace row of generously scaled former merchant's townhouses and commercial buildings set within the historic city walls adjacent to Shipquay Gate on the NE side with the Guildhall immediately outside the walls and the River Foyle beyond.

Historical information

Nos 15-17 Shipquay Street, a three-storey late-Victorian building occupying the corner of Shipquay and Richmond Street, was constructed in phases for the Provincial Bank between 1890 and 1895.

Raven’s 1622 plan of Londonderry shows that the layout of Shipquay Street has not been altered since the laying out of the walled city. The map records that Shipquay Street was originally known as ‘Silver Street’ but the current name had been adopted by the early-18th century. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs (1837) described Shipquay Street’s appearance in the following terms: ‘although otherwise imposing, [the street] is necessarily marred by the broken line of the roofs. This street contains … several respectable private residences.’ Prior to the mid-19th century the character of Shipquay Street was predominantly domestic but from the mid-19th century many of the former residences were converted into commercial premises as new residential areas were developed in Edenballymore to the north. In 1849 the Derry Standard recorded that ‘a wonderful transformation has taken place, the houses of private gentlemen having been changed into shops and private businesses’ (OSM, p. 101).

Nos 15-17 Shipquay Street occupies the site of two previous buildings. No. 15 Shipquay Street (the three-storey four-bay building) was occupied as offices by The Honourable The Irish Society in the 1830s but by at least 1856 the building had been occupied by the Provincial Bank of Ireland. The Provincial Bank was originally located at nos 16-18 Shipquay Street and had been established in the city in 1825, at that time being only the fourth branch to have been set up in Ireland. Mitchell states that the ‘failure of the Bank of Ireland to move out of Dublin left the north of Ireland dependent for financial services on private banks, merchants and bill-discounters.’ Local businessmen in the city had established a local banking system in the early-19th century but (as Hume states) following the establishment of the first banks on Shipquay Street in 1825 ‘growing satisfaction with the service they provided diminished the desire to establish an independent bank in the north-west’ (Mitchell, p. 64; Hume, p. 138). No. 17 Shipquay Street (demolished to make way for the current building) was a three-storey three-bay private dwelling that was occupied by the local solicitor Joseph Loughrey in the late-19th century (Foyle Civic Trust).

In 1890 the Provincial Bank of Ireland largely rebuilt their existing premises at No. 15 Shipquay Street. The new bank was designed in an Italianate style by Croom & Toye, a local architectural partnership between James Croom and Edward J. Toye. Following the construction of the bank, Toye went on to establish an independent practice and became Londonderry’s leading Architect for the Roman Catholic church, but the Londonderry Sentinel notes that the design of the bank was Croom’s alone. The construction of the new bank building was carried out by the local building firm of Matthew McClelland who had premises on the Strand Road (UTD). In April 1890 the Londonderry Sentinel published a sketch of the front elevation of the new building (which depicted the building’s current appearance). The newspaper noted that ‘the rebuilding of the premises will be a very marked architectural improvement to [Shipquay Street], and will provide something like adequate accommodation for the staff in the conduct of the large and increasing business of the bank.’ The completed bank was opened in 1890 and was valued at £75 under the Annual Revisions. The scale and fenestration of the bank was almost identical to the previous building leading Calley to suggest that ‘certain elements may have been maintained’ and that the work to No. 15 Shipquay Street may have constituted more of a remodelling than a reconstruction (Calley, p. 385).

The second phase in the construction of the current building took place in 1895 and involved the replacement of the former three-storey three-bay No. 17 Shipquay Street. In 1890 the Londonderry Sentinel had also noted that ‘the directors of the bank have now acquired the whole of the corner block immediately below the bank. This is in view of further extension of the premises, which it is thought may become necessary in a few years. The bank would then have a frontage to Shipquay Street of between 70 and 80 feet, and to Richmond Street of about 40 feet, one of the most commanding sites in the city.’ No. 17 Shipquay Street was demolished in 1895 when the current corner building was constructed in a similar style to its neighbour. The extension was most likely also designed by James Croom who had left his partnership with Toye and established an independent practice in the city. The Annual Revisions note that the adjoining extension was also valued at £75, bringing the total value of nos 15-17 Shipquay Street to £150. The building at the corner of Shipquay Street and Richmond Street was not immediately occupied as office premises. The valuer notes that the building was leased out by the bank and was initially utilised as a clubhouse for the City Club, ‘a social club for local gentlemen’ (UTD). Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the bank and clubhouse at Nos 15-17 Shipquay Street was increased in value to £280. The City Club continued to occupy No. 17 Shipquay Street until at least the 1970s. By the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the total rateable value of Nos 15-17 Shipquay Street had been increased to £340.

In 1970 the UAHS guide for Londonderry described nos 15-17 Shipquay Street in the following terms: ‘It has a rendered façade of no great merit, with an interesting corner oriel window.’ The building was included in the Historic City Conservation Area in 1977 and was subsequently listed in 1979. The NIEA HB Records note that the Allied Irish Bank occupied both nos 15 and 17 Shipquay Street by at least 1981. Calley states that the three-bay extension on Richmond Street was added to nos 15-17 Shipquay Street in the 1980s. The extension was built on the last remaining plot on Richmond Street (a plantation-era street that was removed by the construction of the Richmond Centre in 1983). Due to damage caused by repeated bomb attacks, the interior of nos 15-17 Shipquay Street has been largely reconstructed so that the listed building consists of a retained façade (the First Survey Image shows that the original mansard roof and chimney stacks have also been lost). Nos 15-17 Shipquay Street continued to be utilised by First Trust Bank until the 2000s when it fell vacant. During the Second Survey Planning Permission was granted to convert the building into a boutique hotel and bar (NIEA HB Records; Calley, pp 385-386; DOE Planning Applications).

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/5/20/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1830)
2. PRONI OS/6/5/20/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1853)
3. PRONI VAL/12/B/157/1/11-15 – Annual Revisions Town Plan (c. 1873-1910)
4. PRONI VAL/2/B/5/16C – Griffith’s Valuation (1856)
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/32/11A-11ZD – Annual Revisions (1860-1897)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/1A-1B – Annual Revisions (1897-1929)
7. PRONI VAL/3/B/6/10 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1935)
8. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/14 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
9. Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Londonderry (1837)
10. Londonderry Sentinel (Apr 1890)
11. Ulster Town Directories (1843-1943)
12. First Survey Record – HB01/19/027 (1970)
13. First Survey Image – HB01/19/027 (1977)
14. NIEA HB Records – HB01/19/027
15. Foyle Civic Trust: Living City Project (Shipquay Street)

Secondary Sources
1. Calley, D., ‘City of Derry: An historical gazetteer to the buildings of Londonderry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2013.
2. Ferguson, W. S; Rowan, A. J; Tracey, J. J., ‘List of historic buildings, groups of buildings, areas of architectural importance in and near the city of Derry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1970.
3. Hume, J., ‘Derry beyond the walls: Social and economic aspects of the growth of Derry 1825-1850’ Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation, 2002.
4. Mitchell, B., ‘The making of Derry: An economic history’ Derry: Inner City Trust, 1992.
5. Rowan, A. J., ‘The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster’ London: Yale University Press, 2003.
6. ‘A design guide for the Historic City Conservation Area Londonderry’ Belfast: Department of the Environment, 2012.

Online Resources
1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie/
2. DOE Planning Applications Website – http://epicpublic.planningni.gov.uk

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
H-. Alterations detracting from building
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
V. Authorship
X. Local Interest
Not listed

Evaluation

A late-Victorian three-storey with exposed basement Italianate-style former bank building situated on the corner site of Shipquay Street and Richmond Street, constructed in phases between 1890 and 1895. No.15 was rebuilt in 1890 to designs by Croom & Toye for the Provincial Bank of Ireland. The second phase was constructed in 1895 to designs by James Croom. Further extensions were added to the Richmond Street elevation in 1980. The building occupies an important prime corner site within one of the four original arterial thoroughfares consisting of former merchant townhouses and commercial buildings set within the historic city walls. The grandeur of the Shipquay Street entrance doorway and the consistent details are all part of carefully composed elevations. It is a well proportioned building and the impact upon its setting carefully considered along with the later extensions to No.17. Historically the building is important for its function, however today the building remains vacant.

General comments

Additional listing criteria apply - R-Age, S-Authenticity, T-Historic Importance