Ardhowen Theatre, 97 Dublin Road, Enniskillen Co Fermanagh, BT74 6FZ

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A civic theatre building comprising an original three-bay Edwardian house of two and a half storeys, built c.1901-10 and a contrasting-styled theatre auditorium extension and link-block extension to the West built in 1984-6, clad primarily in curtain wall glazing and vertical-hung natural Penryn Welsh slate. A former coach house to the rear (N) is also integrated into the complex around a rear courtyard. It now houses backstage facilities and plant and has itself been extended eastward with a boiler house. The original house, now used for administration and ancillary functions has also been extended to the East with a single storey studio in a style matching the original house.

The theatre has a pastoral
setting on banks of River Erne, directly west of Castle Coole, on a mature site surrounded by trees.

The Edwardian house has a Welsh natural slate hipped roof with terracotta ridge and hip tiles that is u-shaped in plan around a flat-roofed centre. The roof has dormer windows, with hipped roofs and leaded cheeks and three painted and rendered chimney stacks with moulded cornice caps. The rainwater goods are original cast iron on overhanging sheeted eaves (original cast iron guttering restored in Jan 2022). Walls are painted roughcast render with smooth soldiered quoins, while the window surrounds, the ground floor bay windows and entrance porch are distinguished by painted smooth render.

Windows are generally 1/1 timber sliding sashes set in square headed openings with some variation in the principle elevation, namely camber-headed openings at first floor and round-headed central window openings in the ground floor bays. Single-glazed windows noted throughout.

The Principal elevation faces south. On Ground Floor level, it has two canted bays. Each has three windows, a round-headed central window and square-headed window on either cant as well as a projecting moulded stringcourse, cill and plinth. A flat-roofed porch spans over both bays and the entrance way in between. Two square painted rendered columns with moulded pedestals and capitals rise from a platform below (three concrete steps lead to front door) to provide central support to the porch roof and define the porch entrance. The central door is double-leafed timber panelled with a plain glass fanlight above. The first floor has paired windows above each bay that contrast with a taller central door with single glazed panel. At roof level there are three twelve-paned side-hung timber dormer windows (repaired Dec 2021-Jan 2022). (At the time of survey there was a temporary wooden structure erected in front of the main entrance to provide shelter while the guttering was removed for refurbishment.)

The original East elevation has two dormer and first-floor windows (aligned vertically) that match the principle elevation. The one remaining ground-floor timber window, exposed on left side, has three one-over-one sliding sashes within a painted moulded surround with moulded cornice above. A single-storey flat-roofed studio extension with chamfered east corner abuts the east elevation. It has five pairs of camber-headed window openings each containing timber one-over-one sliding sashes and a parapet roof that rises above a moulded cornice and projecting masonry cill.

The Rear (north) elevation is asymmetrical, with the u-shaped roof plan expressed through to the ground in a two storey projection on the western side. The projection has a single central dormer window above a first and ground floor window in an asymmetrical placing and forms a return in plan which, on the ground floor level, is infilled beneath a slated mono-pitch roof to create a porch. The porch has two eight-over-one timber sliding-sash windows and a door in sheeted timber with eight glazed upper panes. (At the time of survey there was a temporary wooden structure erected in front of the rear entrance to provide shelter while the guttering was removed for refurbishment.)

Above the porch is another asymmetrical composition with paired timber casements within in a moulded surround and another taller timber one-over-one timber sliding sash window on right side also in a moulded surround.
The rear elevation gives onto a rear courtyard and the former coach house. This building is walled and roofed the same as the main house and has since been extended with a boiler house in matching style.

The main theatre auditorium extension extends westward from the original house. Its principle south elevation is a two storey wall of curtain glazing. The vertical glazed panels, with their verticality further emphasised by a minimal seamless silicone joint at mid-height, are set between aluminium vertical members of accentuated thinness on a supporting steel frame. At second floor ceiling level the glazing cants back, and over the entrance link this terminates in a flat roof, but above the main auditorium it transitions to a hipped slate roof that continues to rise and terminate in a flat roof with a ridge line similar in height to the Edwardian house. The steel eaves line at the transition/ termination of the glazing runs consistently through, level with the eaves of the original house.
The continuity of the glazing is singularly breeched by a masonry entrance portico. A storey and a half high, this contrasting element is finished in painted render and is detailed consistent with the earlier house. Two slate-clad ventilators also protrude, but dormer-like, to break the continuity of the slate clad roof.
The auditorium block is canted on both corners and sits forward from the line of the Edwardian house and entrance link.
The west elevation, apart from the return of the canted glazed corner of the southern end, is monolithically clad with Penryn Welsh natural slate. The vertically hung slate on the walls transitions seamlessly into the pitch of the roof and the only interruptions are the contrasting green ground floor auditorium escape door and first floor escape door and steel spiral staircase.
The Rear north elevation is also fully clad with Penryn Welsh natural slate. However at the roof level, black painted windows extend sculpturally out from the wall at 45 degrees to form a fire lantern.
The rear elevation sits below a steep bank which rises towards the N and contains a path which gives a view over the top of the theatre towards the River Erne.

Materials - Edwardian House:
Walls - painted roughcast render & smooth render to surrounds
Roof – natural Welsh slate with terracotta ridge tiles
Windows – timber sliding sash & multipane casements, single-glazed
Rainwater goods – original cast iron

Materials - Theatre extension:
Walls – curtain walling & vertical-hung natural Penryn Welsh slate to rear
Roof – natural Penryn Welsh slate & felt flat roof
Windows – aluminium-framed curtain walling, green tinted single-glazing
Rainwater goods – N/A

Setting
The Ardhowen Theatre is located in Derrychara (Ir. ‘Oak-wood of the weir’), a relatively small townland approximately 1 mile south of Enniskillen town centre, between the River Erne and the Dublin Road, and directly west of Castle Coole. The front entrances of both the former Edwardian House and the theatre extension face South towards the River Erne and overlook the Ardhowen Jetty. The mature treed grounds slope down towards the water, while the ground rises steeply to the North at the rear.

Historical information

The Ardhowen Theatre is in Derrychara (Ir. ‘Oak-wood of the weir’), a relatively small townland south of Enniskillen between Lough Erne and the Dublin Road that was largely rural prior to the mid-20th century. A small pre-1835 house (or houses), with an orchard, had stood just north of the site of the present building but these were cleared away sometime before 1857.

In c.1907 a 5 acre plot in the south-eastern corner of the townland (just north of the Sligo, Leitrim & Northern Counties railway line of 1877-79) was acquired by Charles McDonagh, an Enniskillen-based draper. Probably in preparation for his marriage to Agnes Elizabeth Keane in September 1911, he built ‘Ardhowen House’ in or just prior to that year. The identity of the architect is not known.

Mr McDonagh died in 1958 and in July 1960 the property (‘one of the finest of its type in the country’) was acquired by the then Enniskillen Rural Council for £9,000. The house was subsequently converted to offices to designs by W.D.R & R.T. Taggart of Belfast, which amongst other things involved addition of an extension to the western side. The extended structure had assumed its new use (‘Ardhowen Local Government Offices’) by at least December 1962.

In 1970 the building was the scene of several Troubles-related incidents including in March, “an invasion by [ten] Civil Rights demonstrators”, scuffles between a much larger group of similar protestors and a crowd of “Paisleyites” the following month, whilst the offices themselves suffered an arson attack, and (in a separate incident in November) were damaged in an explosion which “blew out the windows”. In 1974 to mitigate the growing threat of car bombs, the car park was moved a further 200 yards away from the building, although couples getting married there were permitted ‘to drive to the door’.

The transformation of the Ardhowen into a performance venue owes much to the enthusiasm to establish a local theatre by Enniskillen Town Clerk, Gerry Burns. The project was formally adopted by the by now Fermanagh District Council in or shortly before 1978, but its fulfilment proved to be a long and difficult process, which was only saved by a European Community grant (for “wet weather facilities” in border areas), and a scaling-down of the capacity of the proposed auditorium itself. Eventually, by late 1983 the firm of McCormick, Tracey & Mullarkey had been commissioned to produce the design involving the Ardhowen site, with Tom Mullarkey the Project Architect. Construction work, which involved the building of the 300-seat auditorium to the west / northwest in place of the much less extensive 1960s extension, a smaller addition to the east, and the adaptation of the old house as support offices, rehearsal spaces etc., commenced in September 1984. G.W.T Group of Belleek were the main contractors, and of note amongst the sub-contractors was Stan Billings, a curtain-walling expert responsible for the glass façade, who – amongst others - had previously been consulted by Richard Rodgers. Officially opened in May 1986, the theatre cost a total of £1.5 million, financial assistance also having been provided by Fermanagh District Council and the Departments of Education, Economic Development and Agriculture.

Despite its long gestation, the new building proved to be both a commercial and a critical success. Described by ‘Ulster Architect’ as “an architectural treat”, it received the magazine’s ‘Building of the Year’ Award in 1987, an RIBA National Award, Civic Trust Award, and an RIAI Commendation in 1988.

The judge of the first of these honours, Architectural Correspondent of The Guardian, Martin Pawley, was fulsome in his appreciation for the theatre, describing it as “an immense creative achievement”, that “rises to all of the challenges and, by brilliance of its own design conception adds others. It effortlessly matches modern and traditional materials and effortlessly marries itself to the existing building.” Taking inspiration from the low foyer of the UN Building in New York, Pawley compared the glass-fronted theatre portion to “a vastly expanded conservatory that still contrives to relate creatively to its…parent dwelling house”. He specifically praised the innovative public areas with their “unrestricted view into the performers’ Green Room”, the “deftly designed auditorium”, with its perimeter aisles that “run down the rake of seats to meet the stage at its own level permitting a rare interaction between performers and audience.” Above all, however, it was the “double-decked foyer, its floors floating free of the glazing, and its twin staircases affording spectacular views of the lough”, that marked out ‘the excellence of Mullarkey’s architectural achievement”. Aside from the purely physical qualities, the fact that the building was constructed in the face of “great difficulties including cost cutting, political unrest, a relationship with an undistinguished existing building and the challenge of a beautiful site overlooking the water”, also merited Pawley’s attention. Finally, he remarked, “At a time when architects are under attack…for their apparent inability to contribute anything useful to the environment, an achievement like Mullarkey’s, that actually enhances its spectacular site and serves a valuable social function in a society torn by prejudice and violence, must be set on the credit side of the ledger. Ardhowen Community Theatre was the finest example of positive, creative architecture that I saw on my travels.”

The RIBA Jury, meanwhile, felt that it was a structure “which delights all who are involved with it. To have down this in the face of budgetary control is remarkable. Their skill and wit have made the building a perfect setting for a warm…contribution to the cultural life of the area.”

The Ardhowen continues in use as a performance space, and at the time of writing [January 2022] is due to undergo a major refurbishment which is planned to be completed in 2024.

References: Primary sources
1 PRONI VAL/12B/26/17A-J Annual valuation revision books, Enniskillen ED – 1864-1929
2 PRONI OS/6/4/22/1-4 County Series Edition 3 – 1834, 1857, 1905, 1936
3 ‘Fermanagh Herald’ - 16 September 1911, p.5
4 OS map 1:2500 scale Sheet 211-12 – 1957, 1970
5 ‘Belfast Telegraph’ – 8 July 1960, p.19; 21 July 1960, p.3; 30 December 1960, p.11; 26 April 1961, p.17; 12 December 1962, p.12; 25 March 1970, p.1; 17 April 1970, p.13; 20 August 1970. P.5; 2 November 1970, p.3; 17 October 1974, p.7; 14 September 1978, p.20; 24 January 1980, p.2; 24 October 1983, p.10
6 ‘Ulster Architect’ – January 1986; November 1987
7 ‘RIBA Journal’ – January 1989

Secondary sources
8 Evans, et al, ‘Modern Ulster Architecture’, (UAHS, Belfast, 2006)

Online sources:
9 https://www.fermanaghomagh.com/services/arts-and-culture/ardhowen-theatre/ [accessed 13/01/2022]
10 https://ardhowen.com/ [accessed 13/01/2022]
11 https://www.civictrustawards.org.uk/benet/schemes/ardhowen-the-theatre-by-the-lakes [accessed 13/01/2022]
12 http://www.traceyarchitects.com/public-buildings-architecture/ardhowen-theatre/ [accessed 13/01/2022]
13 https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/competitions/ardhowen-theatre-enniskillen [accessed 13/01/2022]

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
E. Spatial Organisation
G. Innovatory Qualities
H-. Alterations detracting from building
H+. Alterations enhancing the building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

V. Authorship
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
Z. Rarity
W. Northern Ireland/International Interest
R. Age
S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance

Evaluation

The Ardhowen Theatre is located in Derrychara (Ir. ‘Oak-wood of the weir’), a relatively small townland approximately 1 mile south of Enniskillen town centre, between the River Erne and the Dublin Road, and directly west of Castle Coole.

The civic theatre is composed of two distinct but conjoined parts: a three-bay, two-storey Edwardian house of c.1901-10, and a substantial glazed theatre extension connected by a link block to the west, which opened in 1986 to much critical-acclaim. Described by ‘Ulster Architect’ as “an architectural treat”, it received the magazine’s ‘Building of the Year’ Award in 1987, an RIBA National Award, Civic Trust Award, and an RIAI Commendation in 1988.

The former house, though austere in its detailing, is well-proportioned with a symmetrically pleasing principal elevation. It retains much of the original floor plan, but has had internal alterations carried out commensurate with its conversion to civic offices. Still in use primarily for administrative purposes, original decorative elements of historic interest which survive include the ‘Lincrusta’ walling around the central stairwell, decorative plaster wall-cornicing depicting festoons and wreaths, original joinery including a timber staircase and several original Edwardian fireplaces.

The glazed extension which houses the main performance and entertainment areas is the ‘jewel in the crown’ of this building. The extension was constructed in 1984-6 to designs by architect Tom Mullarkey of Derry-based practice McCormick, Tracey & Mullarkey.

Architect Mullarkey spent some of his early career in the offices of Marcel Breuer in New York; this may be one of the few Bauhaus influenced buildings in Northern Ireland, in terms of functionality and materials. In keeping with the aspirations of the Bauhaus, the design unifies the principles of mass production with individual artistic vision, striving to combine aesthetics with everyday function. In keeping with the Bauhaus tradition, the extension has rectangular features, chunky railings and a long bank of windows.

It combines a concrete frame structure and a secondary steel frame supporting the fully-glazed curtain walling of vertical strips, maximising views over the Ardhowen Jetty and a particularly noteworthy setting on the north bank of the River Erne, towards the remaining sections of the old stone railway bridge structure (IHR 01009:006:00). Views from the building were designed using sensitive landscaping, with the verticality of the existing mature trees helping to frame views of the river. Now commonplace, the long glazed façade was then an extraordinary feature in a largely rural community which was still suffering from the Troubles and the risks posed by an open, glazed elevation.

The theatre extension exhibits innovatory qualities, in particular the purpose-designed curtain walling by Stan Billings, who was also consulted by internationally renowned Architect Richard Rogers on other buildings. Internally, the theatre layout was innovatory at the time with the seating meeting the stage at its own level and the Green Room being open to the upper foyer area.

Externally the hipped roof of the original structure is echoed in the roof over the extension. Further material continuity is evident in the unpierced sides of the structure to the rear (N), which is entirely clad in Penryn Welsh natural slate. The steel frame marks an extension of the eaves line of the original building to good effect, creating a feeling of considered proportion.

Overall, the building is a notable example of the juxtaposition of contemporary architecture with a building of traditional form, by a noted local architect. It is of social interest, having served as a civic arts centre for the south-west region for over thirty years. It is also of significant regional interest and is considered rare, as one of only a small number of new theatres built in Northern Ireland in the latter half of the 20th century. The decade-long design phase culminated in a distinctive building of special architectural and historic interest. Still largely intact, the building contains a large extent of original fabric (and therefore authenticity) dating to both the Edwardian period and the mid-1980s as appropriate.

As summarised by Pawley writing for The Guardian newspaper: “At a time when architects are under attack…for their apparent inability to contribute anything useful to the environment, an achievement like Mullarkey’s, that actually enhances its spectacular site and serves a valuable social function in a society torn by prejudice and violence, must be set on the credit side of the ledger.”