16-24 Waterloo St

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Early twentieth century multi-bay three-storey red brick Edwardian commercial building with rendered dressings and shop-fronts on ground floor level with fascia signage. Built 1907 to designs by Patrick H. Elliott. Occupying a corner site at the junction of Waterloo Street and Castle Gate leading to Castle Street immediately outside the historic city walls. L-shaped plan form with a low solid parapet wall to natural slate pitched roof with two large red brick chimney stacks rising from the North-East and North-West sides, centred on ridge. Principal elevations face North-East onto Castle Gate and North-West onto Waterloo Street, canted corner elevation faces North containing an entrance doorway with a curved oriel window above on the first floor. Date above oriel window on chimney stack is 1907.

North-West elevation consists of four bays divided by pilasters from ground level to parapet level. The ground floor is divided horizontally from first floor by a deep moulded rendered and painted frieze containing shop signage. Ground floor windows have square-headed openings with shouldered arched timber window frames to shop fronts and are divided from the adjacent bays by rendered and painted pilasters. There are two timber entrance doorways side-by-side to the right hand side of the elevation. The door on the left has a rectangular glazed panel above two raised and fielded panels with a plain transom light over. The right-hand door is four-panelled with raised and fielded panels and a blind transom light over.
The upper floors are of red brick laid in 'English Garden Wall' bond. First floor level has rendered aedicules to windows with scrolled edges and a central keystone and cornice above. Windows to first floor are 8/2 casement, the lower section split vertically into two sections. The bays on first floor are divided by rendered pilasters which are reeded up to transom level.
Second floor windows are aligned with the windows below. The left hand bay windows are identical to those below but without the aedicules. The windows in the right bay are 8/2 but are timber sliding sash and again no aedicules. There is a moulded sill-course spanning between pilasters. The elevation is topped by a salient cornice with a low parapet wall above.

North canted corner elevation has a traditional-style recessed entrance with curved glazed panes above stall riser on ground floor. There is an oriel window above on first floor level with a parapet with balustrade above creating a small balcony to window on second floor level. The corner elevation is topped by a decorative rendered chimney stack with a cornice. Date on chimney stack is 1907, set inside decorative moulding and with scrolled mouldings below.

North-East elevation facing onto Castle Gate is of similar fenestration to NW elevation; bays on first floor level are divided by rendered pilasters with rendered aedicules to first floor windows and a moulded sill-course to second floor windows above; right-side bay contains a coupled window aligned with the same on first floor level; entablature above second floor level is topped by a salient cornice with a low solid parapet wall above. The ground floor shop-fronts are comprised of a series of windows with square-headed openings with shouldered arched timber window frames. To the extreme left of the elevation there is an iron gate between the building and the city walls at Castle Gate, giving access to a shared rear courtyard. Full access to the rear was not possible at time of survey. There are two timber doors to the right of the gate, similar to those on the NW elevation. There are two further single door openings to shop units along this facade which sit among the shop windows.

South-West side is abutted by neighbouring property No.20 Waterloo Street.

South-East gable-end side elevation immediately overlooks the historic city walls. The walling is of smooth-rendered painted finish with company printed logo at apex; gable-end elevation is topped by a small red-brick chimney stack with a stepped cornice and two circular terracotta clay pots.

Setting:
Located on the South-East side of Waterloo Street directly overlooking the Historic City Walls, on the North-West quarter of the Walled City and with the River Foyle to the North East. Situated within a terraced row of red brick and rendered commercial buildings within the Historic City Conservation Area.

Materials:
Roof Natural slate
RWG Cast-iron
Walling Brick with stucco dressings
Windows Timber casements / multi-pane / timber sliding-sash

Historical information

The Edwardian corner building, comprising nos 1, 3-4 Castle Gate and nos 22-24 Waterloo Street, was constructed in 1907-08. Calley states that this area below the walls was originally utilised as a beast market in the early-17th century and was later utilised as a parade ground. In 1806 the city walls were breached to create Castle Gate which provided quick access to the Cow Bog on Waterloo Street. The construction of the first buildings at the junction between Castle Gate and Waterloo Street did not take place until the mid-19th century (Calley, p. 82).

The Annual Revisions note that the current three-storey building replaced a house and public house that had formerly stood at the corner of Castle Gate and Waterloo Street. The new building was constructed for Henry McKeown, a local boot and shoemaker who had previously held business premises along Waterloo Street. The Irish Builder notes that the new Edwardian structure was designed by Patrick H. Elliott, a local architect who had established his independent practice in the city in 1905. Elliott predominantly designed commercial buildings with the building at the corner of Castle Gate and Waterloo Street one of his earliest independent contracts. The building was constructed by James Gallagher, a local contractor who held business premises on the Strand Road (Irish Builder, p. 593; 775; DIA).

The new building at the corner of Castle Gate and Waterloo Street was divided into a number of ground floor retail units with offices and storage space in the floors above. Nos 22-24 Waterloo Street were occupied by McKeown’s shoemakers, whilst the adjoining units on Castle Gate were occupied by local merchants, Bernard McLaughlin and Robert Flannigan (UTD). The valuer set the total rateable value of the building at £72 and 10 shillings upon its completion in 1908. The building continued to be owned by the McKeown family until at least the 1970s. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the largest ground floor retail unit (comprising No. 1 Castle Gate and No. 22 Waterloo Street) remained occupied by John McKeown’s shoemakers shop with the remaining units on Castle Gate and Waterloo Street utilised as shops and offices by other tenants. The valuer increased the total rateable value of the building at £120 and 5 shillings by the 1950s, however this was further raised to £177 by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956 72).

Included in the Historic City Conservation Area in 1977, the building at the corner of Castle Gate and Waterloo Street has undergone an extensive renovation which resulted in the recreation of the ground floor shop fronts, restoration of the building’s windows, removal of shutters and the repointing of its brickwork in lime mortar. The restoration of the building was a Townscape Heritage Initiative Scheme and was carried out by Tracey Architects and was one of the first refurbishment projects undertaken by the Walled City Partnership (Tracey Architects website).

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/E/157/1/14 – Annual Revisions Town Plan (c. 1873-1910)
4. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/5B-5C – Annual Revisions (1898-1929)
5. PRONI VAL/3/C/6/11-12 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
6. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/15-17 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
7. Irish Builder (24 Aug 1907; 12 Dec 1908)
8. Ulster Town Directories (1852-1918)
9. Derry Almanac (1876-1953)
10. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)

Secondary Sources
1. Calley, D., ‘City of Derry: An historical gazetteer to the buildings of Londonderry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2013.
2. ‘Londonderry Historic City Conservation Area Booklet’ Department of the Environment, 1977.
3. ‘A Design Guide for the Historic City Conservation Area’ Department of the Environment, 2012.

Online Resources
1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie/
2. Tracey Architects website - http://www.traceyarchitects.com/conservation-architecture/conservation-refurbishment-at-castle-gate-derry/

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

Evaluation

A three-storey multi-bay red brick Edwardian commercial building with decorative rendered dressings and shop-fronts on ground floor level, built in 1907 to designs by Patrick H. Elliott. It occupies a corner site at the junction of Waterloo Street and Castle Gate, immediately adjacent to and outside the historic city walls, in the North-West corner of the Walled City. The building was extensively restored by Tracey Architects in recent years as part of a Townscape Heritage Initiative by the Walled City Partnership. Externally the building retains much of its historic detailing and character, its canted corner with recessed doorway and oriel window above distinctly defining the street corner. Despite the survival of little or no historic detailing internally, the external detailing and recreation of the shop fronts defines this building as special in the Historic City Conservation Area adjacent to the City Walls.

General comments

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