9A Ascot Gardens

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Three bay, two and three storey flat roofed modernist house dating from 1935 to designs by Anthony Frederick Lucy. Regular plan form facing NE and situated on an elevated site on the W side of Ascot Gardens.

Flat roof with PVC roof covering and raised parapets with painted concrete coping having inset horizontal metal tubular railings forming a terrace at roof level, accessed from second floor roof-top room. RWGs are square section hoppers discharging to circular metal downpipes. Windows are square-headed replacement double-glazed metal windows with horizontal dividing panes having side hung and toplight opening casements. Walls are smooth rendered and painted white with painted concrete cills. Raised plaster band at roof floor level to NE elevation, part of NW and SE.

Principal elevation faces NE and is three bays wide. Projecting bay to SE side having stepped parapet with corner railings; single picture window to GF and corner windows to FF. Main entrance is adjacent to projecting bay having recessed square-headed doorcase with original timber framed fully glazed door and horizontal paned sidelights. Door opens onto two wide concrete steps with painted finish. Flat projecting canopy over entrance has zig-zag pattern to front face, painted black and white. Window over doorway at FF; window at GF to NW bay and corner window to FF.

Northwest elevation is three bays wide with central three storey narrowly projecting bay to stairwell having a window at each floor; raised plaster motif above SF window. Flanking bays are two storey having raised parapet with corner railings. NE bay has corner window at FF only and projecting band at roof level; SW bay has narrow windows at each floor. Projecting flat-roofed extension to SW having blank elevation to NW and two windows to NE. Recessed SF bay to SW side having flat roof and glazed wall.

Rear elevation facing SW consists of three bays plus single storey extension to NW side having a square-headed door opening with horizontal panes and narrow side- and fan-light. Projecting square bay to SE side with central door opening and flanking sidelights; corner window above to FF. GF and FF window to each remaining bay.

SE elevation is four bays wide with projecting chimneys flanking central two bays which have narrow windows at GF and FF. Corner windows to outer bays.

Setting:
Located on the W side of Ascot Gardens, the site is bounded by a rendered wall with mature planting behind from the E side, through a painted metal pedestrian gate; concrete steps flanked in low rendered walling lead up to the main entrance through the steeply banked front lawn, rising in a series of terraces. Rendered wall with regular square block detail at coping and mature planting behind to NW and SW boundary; detached single storey garage with flat roof and 2 no. up and over garage doors, at lower level than main house, accessed from NW side off lane running round rear of property. Planting to N and S sides, to boundaries with adjacent properties.

Roof: flat roof, PVC
RWGs: metal hoppers and downpipes
Walling: smooth cement render
Windows: replacement timber or uPVC

Historical information

No. 9A Ascot Gardens, a two-and-three-storey flat-roof dwelling, was constructed in 1935. The suburbs to the south-east of Belfast began to tentatively develop in the early decades of the 20th century but it was not until the 1950s and the post-war decline in the city’s industries that suburbanisation gained speed. No. 9A Ascot Gardens was constructed as part of this tentative pre-war development and predates many of the neighbouring dwellings, the majority of which were erected in the 1950s.

The modernist house was designed by Anthony Frederick Lucy who ‘worked almost exclusively in the Belfast area, chiefly engaged in designing large numbers of houses for private housing developments in the city and suburbs.’ The Irish Builder records that Lucy also designed a house in the adjoining Shandon Park in the same year (Irish Builder, p. 1010; DIA).

The dwelling was not completed by the First Revaluation of 1935, but the Second Revaluation (1956-72) recorded that the property was owned by a Mr. T. McGeough and was valued at £72. The Northern Ireland Historic Buildings Council agreed to the statutory listing of the dwelling in 1991 as ‘the loss in recent years of other modernist houses in the area [made it] a rare example of its type.’ No. 9A Ascot Gardens was subsequently listed in 1992. The NIEA HB Records state that the dwelling formed a local landmark due to the elevated location of the building and ‘formed an important element in the suburban language.’ Interesting modernist features include the tubular metal railings to the parapet, the use of Art Deco detailing such as zig-zag patterning, and the raised plaster mouldings on the stairway bay. The building remains in use as a private dwelling and has underwent recent alterations including the installation of a new chimney in 2009 and the replacement of the original roof in 2011 (NIEA HB Records).

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/3/4/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey map (1931)
2. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/25 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
3. Irish Builder (2 Nov 1935)
4. Ulster Town Directories (1918-1943)
5. First Survey Record – HB26/11/001 (1991)
6. First Survey Image – HB26/11/001 (No Date)
7. NIEA HB Records – HB26/11/001

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
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

V. Authorship
W. Northern Ireland/International Interest
R. Age
S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
Z. Rarity

Evaluation

A two and three-storey flat-roofed modernist house dating from 1935 designed by Anthony Lucy. A fine example of a modernist villa, with a largely intact exterior, interior and setting. Although the windows have been replaced, the horizontal pattern of glazing has been reproduced. Characteristic features include the tubular metal railings to the parapet, corner windows, rooftop room and terrace and 'Art Deco' detailing to the entrance canopy. Situated on an elevated site on Ascot Gardens, with original terraced and stepped entrance and modernist walling and gates, the house is a local landmark and an important and rare example of the idiom.