Former Bank

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A three-storey five-bay wide building in neo-classical style dating from 1918 to designs by the Belfast based architectural firm Blackwood & Jury. L-shaped plan form and a single storey return. The building is located to the N side of Newtownards Road.

Flat roof with asphalt covering having modern skylight and lightwells to single storey return. Two rectangular section ashlar limestone chimney stacks to E and W gables with corbelled coping and red-clay chimney pots. Decorated cast-iron hoppers to N elevation discharging to rectangular section downpipes. Ashlar limestone walling with banded rustication to the GF. Square headed window openings with moulded stone cills to N elevation and plain stone cills to rear, all having replacement uPVC casement windows (unless otherwise stated).

North elevation:
Symmetrical principal elevation is five-bays wide and faces N. Square headed door openings to end bays, rusticated surround and pronounced keystone having eight-panelled timber doors with fanlights and brass ironmongery. Three windows to central bays with continuous moulded cills to GF, topped by moulded cornice. Three central bays to upper floors are slightly recessed, with the central bay forming a shallow breakfront flanked by rectangular section pilasters and rising as a modest attic block with carved frieze depicting the Belfast Coat of Arms. Plain frieze and raised parapet to remainder.

South elevation
The rear elevation is three-storey with a three-storey return to W and a single storey extension to E.

Three-bay wide red-brick S facing elevation to W end and four-bay wide rendered elevation facing E. The three-bay wide recessed S facing elevation to E end is rendered. uPVC guttering discharging to circular downpipes.

West elevation:
The W elevation is rendered and abutted by the neighbouring two-storey building 416 Newtownards Road (of little interest).

East elevation:
The E elevation is in brick partly rendered and abutted by the neighbouring two-storey building 411 Newtownards Road (of little interest).

Setting:
The building fronts onto the Newtownards Road with neighbouring buildings adjoining both sides. The rear elevation faces onto a narrow alley and is enclosed by a red-brick wall with a square-headed opening to a modern flush door giving access to the rear yard. The rear yard has concrete finish and a modern concrete staircase leading to the roof over the single storey extension. A metal staircase connects the top of this roof with a door at upper floor level.

Materials
Roof: Flat roof with felt roof covering
RWG: Cast iron/ uPVC to rear
Walling: : Ashlar limestone to front/ rendered brick to rear
Windows: Replacement uPVC casement windows

Historical information

The Ulster Bank on the Newtownards Road, a three-storey five-bay neo-classical bank building, was constructed in 1918. The first branch of the Ulster Bank Co. was opened in Waring Street in 1836 (in offices now occupied by the Merchant Hotel). The bank was constructed to designs by Blackwood & Jury, a Belfast based architectural partnership which was formed c. 1901 and continued to operate until 1973. Blackwood & Jury were the favoured architects of the Ulster Bank Co. (J. W. Blackwood was the son of one of the Bank’s Directors - Haines, p. 46) and constructed at least 25 branches throughout Ireland (Dictionary of Irish Architects). Larmour noted that Blackwood & Jury constructed most of the Ulster Bank branches ‘in some form of English Classical Style’ and stated that the bank on Newtownards Road was constructed in an ‘austere classical manner’ (Larmour, p. 46).

Knox states that the Connswater Branch of the Ulster Bank was opened on 2nd September 1918. The Annual Revisions set the rateable value of the building at £270, but this was lowered to £161 in 1927. The bank was constructed on land owned by the Bloomfield Land & Building Co. Ltd., which was formed by the landowning Boyd family in 1874 to secure leases for building projects in the East Belfast townlands of Ballyhackamore and Ballycloghan. The First General Revaluation of property in Northern Ireland records (1936-57) that by the 1930s the value of the Ulster Bank had been increased to £200 with the first floor of the building leased out other firms as office space. During the Second World War the bank building was severely damaged on the night of 15th April 1941 during the Belfast Blitz. The top floors of the building were gutted by fire caused by falling incendiary bombs and, in the aftermath of the bombing, the Connswater Branch operated from the branch bank on the Albertbridge Road (HB26/08005) for two months whilst the bank on the Newtownards Road was repaired. By the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the total rateable value of the bank had risen to £640.

In 1998 the Mountpottinger Branch of the Ulster Bank was amalgamated with the Connswater Branch, resulting in the closure of the bank on the Albertbridge Road (Haines, p. 46). The Ulster Bank vacated the premises on the Newtownards Road in c. 1995. Field inspection of the building finds that the building has been converted into offices premises.

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/3/4/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey map (1920-21)
2. PRONI OS/6/3/4/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey map (1931)
3. PRONI OS/6/3/4/6 – Sixth Edition Ordnance Survey map (1938)
4. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/L/9 – Annual Revisions (1815-1930)
5. PRONI VAL/3/C/3/18 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
6. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/29 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
7. Ulster Town Directories (1918-1943)

Secondary Sources
1. Haines, K., ‘East Belfast: Paintings and stories from harbour to hills’ Donaghadee: Cottage Publications, 2001.
2. Larmour, P., ‘Belfast: An illustrated architectural guide’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1987.
3. Knox, W. J., ‘Decades of the Ulster Bank, 1836-1964’ Belfast: Ulster Bank Ltd., 1965.
4.First Survey Record – HB26/10/007 (No Date)

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

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
V. Authorship
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Three-storey five-bay wide former Ulster Bank branch in neo-classical style designed in 1918 by the prominent Belfast based architectural firm Blackwood & Jury. The building is one of a number of Ulster Bank branches designed by the same architects. The principal elevation is relatively plain but with good proportions, divided into five bays and clad in ashlar limestone with banded rustication to the ground floor. Despite the windows being replaced with uPVC the building retains its essential architectural character including the original panelled entrance doors and the internal timber lobby. A carved frieze at the top depicts the Belfast Coat of Arms and is banded top and bottom by a stone ogee moulding and terminated in a raised parapet. Although somewhat austere, this former bank is one of the more significant buildings in this part of the Newtownards Road.