Mersey Street Primary School

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Single storey with attic multiple bay symmetrical red brick neo-Georgian school, built in 1927 to designs by Reginald S. Wilshere, Architect to the Belfast Education Committee. Quadrangular plan form facing S with projecting canted corner bays, six bay return to N wing extending to centre of open quadrangle where octagonal assembly hall sits. School set back slightly from footpath on the N side of Mersey Street and directly to the E of Redcliffe Street within its own grounds enclosed by replacement metal railings supported low brick wall spanning between square brick piers. In 2011 the building was renovated and converted into twenty three two-storey apartments by Connolly & Fee with the replacement of floors, windows, doors and internal finishes.

Hipped natural slate roof with black clay ridge tiles and single square-section red brick chimney rising above ridgeline to rear of S elevation. Replacement timber facia and boarded soffit; replacement cast metal RWGs with ogee guttering discharging to circular section downpipes throughout. Red brick walling laid in stretcher bond with cement pointing and reconstituted stone plinth, cill and frieze courses. Windows generally square-headed with flush red brick rowlock course cills and paired replacement timber windows split into multi-panes to match original design with top and bottom opening lights.

Principal elevation
The front elevation facing S is symmetrical with a three bay entrance breakfront flanked by three bays of square-headed windows arranged in threes; projecting canted bays to outer corners of elevation. Corner bays have flat roof set behind parapet with reconstituted stone coping on brick soldier course with moulded concrete panels set flush with windows. Narrowly advanced entrance breakfront has parapet wall rising to reconstituted stone coping. Main central door case comprised of square-headed opening with reconstituted stone architrave, applied steel lettering to head; 'THE SCHOOL 78', replacement timber door with side and fanlight, recessed behind original double leaf painted metal gates. Door surmounted by reconstituted stone cartouche and flanked by multi-pane timber windows with two pane top hung casement and soldier course to heads.

West elevation
Nine bay main block plus canted bays each having full height brick pilasters between paired timber casement windows arranged in threes. First and last bays narrowly project and provide separate 'BOYS' and 'GIRLS' entrances, denoted by applied steel lettering to reconstituted stone architrave heads and projecting hood moulds over. Doors have replacement timber square headed doors with sidelight and square-headed fanlight recessed behind painted metal gates. Projecting canted bay to S and another smaller canted bay to N, having only one double window facing W.

North elevation
Multiple bay elevation with central bay having a group of three windows, as before flanked by narrowly projecting single bays with single casement windows. Shallow projections also to third bay, each having single windows. All other bays have paired windows. Canted corner bay to west only.

East elevation
Twelve bays with projecting canted section to S corner. First bay from S houses 'GIRLS' entrance and fourth bay from N houses 'BOYS' entrance denoted by applied steel lettering to heads of reconstituted stone door architraves, between raised and fielded square panels at outermost edges. Principal bays having full height brick pilasters and timber casement paired windows arranged in threes.

Quadrangle
Access to quadrangle primarily through 'BOYS' and 'GIRLS' doors at E and W leading through vestibule to open air quadrangle. Rectangular single storey seven bay block projects from centre of S wing to centre of quadrangle where an octagonal plan assembly hall is centred on plan. Projecting block has roof lantern to first bay from S wing. Octagonal hall has Flemish bond red brick walling with plain clasping pilasters, banded reconstituted stone plinth and dado courses; all but N face is pierced by a single rounded arch doorway formed in guaged brick with keystone and stops housing square headed timber door with side lights and fanlight. Hipped natural slate roof to hall with projecting eaves set on soldier course brickwork.

Internal elevations to all wings divided up into twenty three separate apartments generally with tripartite timber casement windows to GF and horizontal six light casement windows to attic level with conservation skylights to lower edge of roof. Timber door with offset vision panel and sidelight. Flat roofed covered walkway with alternating vertical timber boarding and painted rendered panels flanking entrances to individual apartments, in place of original cloister. Each apartment has private defensible space with a variety of paving slabs and decking interspersed with lawn. Quadrangle formally laid out with intersecting pathways dividing lawned areas and tree planting.

Setting
Located to the N of Mersey Street, the principle entrance to the school is approached from the S. Dwarf red brick walling to site boundary with concrete coping and steel railings set between square section red brick pillars. Area between dwarf walling and school lawned with some established trees to interior. Tarmaced parking bays to E and W where railings abut building.

Roof: Natural slate
RWGs: Cast iron
Walling: Red brick with reconstituted stone dressings
Windows: Mixture of single, double and tripartite multi-pane replacement timber casement

Historical information

Mersey Street Primary School, a single-storey red-brick school arranged around a quadrangle, was constructed in 1927 to designs by Reginald S. Wilshere. Following the partition of Ireland in 1922, responsibility for the administration of education in Northern Ireland was passed to Local Authorities (by means of the 1923 Education Act). The Belfast Education Committee was established to administer existing schools, but also to implement the construction of new schools in Belfast. The third edition Ordnance Survey map (1902) records that Mersey Street was laid out at the turn of the 20th century and was flanked on its north side by a football ground and to the south-east side by a distillery. The contemporary Ulster Town Directories note that the street became home to a working class community which worked in the surrounding factories and shipyards. The growth in the local population of Mersey Street necessitated the construction of a new schoolhouse in the area (Mersey Street was largely cut off from the schools on the Newtownards Road by the Belfast & County Down Railway Line).

Mersey Street Primary School was designed by Reginald Sharman Wilshere (1888-1961), a Belfast-based English architect who had been appointed by the Belfast Education Committee as its chief designer in 1926 and designed 26 schools before the outbreak of the Second World War. The Irish Builder recorded that ‘Wilshere’s own idea ... is that if the children of a district have no beauty in their daily surroundings, they need beauty all the more in their schools.’ Wilshere’s technique was to construct large schools along quadrangles with corridors opened to fresh air and Larmour states that ‘these were the first modern schools to be built anywhere in Ireland. Mersey Street Primary School was one of Wilshere’s earliest schools and is a typical example of his standardised design. Each of Wilshere’s schools incorporates unique aesthetic features. Larmour states that ‘they range from the neo-Georgian to the outright modernistic … there are also hints of modern German, Scandinavian and Dutch work. Most are built in brick with dressings of artificial stone, and roofs covered with Roman tiles, whilst classrooms were frequently finished in varying shades of colour.’ Mersey Street Primary School was designed in a Neo-Georgian style with an octagonal assembly hall located in the centre of the quadrangle forming its centrepiece (DIA; Larmour).

Mersey Street Primary School was opened in 1927 and was valued at £750 under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57). The fifth edition Ordnance Survey map (1931) depicted the school along its current layout suggesting that no major structural changes had been made to the school since the 1920s. By the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the value of the school had risen to £1,228. Mersey Street Primary School was listed in 1994 but, due to the demolition of hundreds of neighbouring houses in the area (as part of a government sponsored redevelopment scheme) school attendance dropped dramatically to only 80 pupils in 2005. The school was closed in January 2006 and incorporated into the redevelopment plans for the area. The NIEA HB Records note that in 2010 the former school was converted into 23 two-storey dwellings and 7 single-storey dwellings. The conversion resulted in the ‘demolition of parts of the existing school, removal of the existing floor and roof structure, the construction of new ground floor slab , new upper floors, stairs, roof repairs to external walls, replacement of existing windows and doors, internal walls, internal finishes, fittings’ etc. The conversion of the building into housing was carried out by Connolly & Fee and was completed in 2011 (NIEA HB Records; BARNI, p. 38).

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/3/4/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey map (1902)
2. PRONI OS/6/3/4/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey map (1920-21)
3. PRONI OS/6/3/4/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey map (1931)
4. PRONI VAL/3/B/3/20 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1935)
5. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/48 – Second General Revaluation of Property in northern Ireland (1956-72)
6. Ulster Town Directories (1918-1943)
7. Irish Builder (4 Feb 1932)
8. First Survey Record – HB26/07/005 (1992)
9. First Survey Image – HB26/07/005 (No Date)
10. NIEA HB Record – HB26/07/005
11. Belfast Telegraph (13 Jan 2006)

Secondary Sources
1. ‘Buildings at Risk Northern Ireland: Vol. 8’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2008.
2. Larmour, P., ‘Belfast: An illustrated architectural guide’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1987.

Online Resources
1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

A single storey with attic symmetrical red brick former school in a utilitarian neo-Georgian style, built in 1927 to designs by Reginald S. Wilshere, as one of a number of new and modern public elementary schools developed for the city following the establishment of the Belfast Education Committee by the 1923 Education Act. Quadrangular plan form facing S with projecting canted corner bays and six bay return to N wing extending to centre of open quadrangle where a somewhat unique octagonal assembly hall sits. Wilshere was adept at applying proportion and symmetry to provide a coherent and legible building with an emphasis on well-being and a connection to the outdoors; this is one of his earlier schools. The original plan form is logical and intuitive and despite the conversion to residential and commercial use, the exterior has retained much of its original character, style and proportions with red brick walling enhanced by a variety of brick bonding details, reconstituted stone dressings and Classical details used sparingly around the entrances to provide a dignified public facade. Indeed the conversion is remarkable sensitive with mezzanine floors inserted within dual aspect classrooms to form compact apartments, accessed via a continuous modern canopy within the courtyard that resonates with Wilshere's trademark cloister. Overall it has retained its balance of well-lit spaces employed alongside an economical use of materials and simple repetition. Located to the N of Mersey Street and directly to the E of Redcliffe Street. Mersey Street former school is a significant building of character and style that makes a positive contribution to the Ballymacarrett area.