B.I.H. Scrabo Glen [front facade]

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Single and two storey decorative facade in Scrabo stone, formerly the front facade of the Ulster Print Works, now the front facade of part of ‘Scrabo Glen’ a sheltered dwelling complex constructed on the site of the former print works. Scrabo Glen is sited off Trasnagh Drive (off Scrabo Road) on the western outskirts of Newtownards.
The facade is symmetrical. In the centre is a two storey section with a central pediment with dentilled eaves and dentilled cornice beyond. This section is flanked by single storey wings with Flemish style gables. In the centre of the ground floor is the entrance doorway with semicircular arched label moulding on brackets and double timber doors. All of the ground floor windows are relatively large and have segmental arch heads and recent eight pane frames all set on a cill course. To the first floor of the central section there are four similar windows with a central (and somewhat incongruous) Palladian window. The gables each have a roundel window. The whole facade is punctuated by a series of shallow projecting ‘piers’/pilasters, two of which are directly below the central pediment, giving this section the appearance of a bay.
Behind the facade the old factory has been replaced by a sheltered dwellings complex, which whilst it incorporates some of the fabric of the original building, is overwhelmingly modern.
A further sheltered dwellings have been built around this main building, whose attempts to reflect elements of the former factory facade.

Historical information

The Ulster Print Works was a textile factory built in 1912 mainly through the efforts of local business men including William James Ferguson, who became the first managing director. The works closed in c.1980 and the building remained unoccupied until c.1995/6 when the factory was largely demolished and the front facade incorporated into a sheltered housing development undertaken by Belfast Improved Housing.

References- Secondary sources
1 Trevor McCavery 'Newtown: a history of Newtownards' (Dundonald 1994), pp.183-4, 207.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Somewhat eclectic former factory facade in Scrabo sandstone, with a mildly classical two storey central section (incorporating a somewhat incongruous Palladian window and label moulding over the doorway) flanked by single storey wings with Flemish-style gables. The original factory was largely demolished c.1995 and the attractively restored facade now fronts a sheltered dwelling complex.