33 Massey Avenue

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A detached two-storey neo-Georgian stone building dating from 1932 to designs by architect Sir Arnold Thornley. Regular plan form with single-storey flat-roofed extension to rear. Located adjacent to the west entrance gate to Stormont Estate and fronting onto Massey Avenue.

Pyramidal natural slate roof with rolled leaded ridges and Portland limestone ashlar chimneys, now blocked. Blocking course to eaves and cornicing framing the upper storey. Smooth Portland limestone ashlar walling with shallow corner pilasters. Square-headed window openings with shallow recessed surrounds; steel windows (unless stated otherwise). Segmental-headed dormer windows with timber casements.

The principal elevation is symmetrical and faces west. It has a central shallow projecting breakfront with carved stone urns; square-headed door opening with architrave and scrolled console brackets supporting a dentilled hood mould. Replacement panelled timber double door with glazing and fanlight opens onto a stone threshold and a concrete block paved platform. Single segmental-arched dormer window to centre.

The symmetrical five-bay north elevation fronts onto Massey avenue having a three-bay central breakfront with carved stone urns. Window openings to the two end bays are flanked by shallow pilasters, with a carved stone swag over and moulded cornice. Windows to the middle bays are larger and have arched detail to top panes. Three dormer windows.

The two storey south elevation is symmetrical and three bays wide with projecting two-and-a-half storey hipped roof central bay having a square-headed door opening with architrave and scrolled console brackets supporting a hood mould. Timber panelled door with bronze door furniture. Square-headed window opening to first and attic floor with small-paned steel casement windows. The end bays have a triple window to ground floor and an oriel window to first floor; segmental-arched dormer windows to attic.

The east elevation has a single-storey flat-roofed L-shaped ashlar limestone abutment. Two small square-headed window openings facing south, with timber top-hung casement windows. Square-headed door opening with modern door to east facing recess. Five-bay south projection has a square-headed window opening with modern metal door and fanlight to central bay and two square-headed window openings with replacement top-hung timber casement windows to each side.

The building is located within its own grounds with a two-storey house (of little interest) and a car park to south. Partly landscaped and tarmaced, the site is enclosed to north by plain ashlar limestone walling with tall cast-iron railings and square caged cast-iron piers topped with metal urns. Hedge to east and west, trees to south.

Materials:
Roof natural slate
Walling ashlar Portland limestone
RWG none
Windows steel casement windows

Historical information

No. 33 Massey Avenue, a one-and-a-half-storey square-shaped building located near the Massey Avenue entrance to the Stormont Estate was constructed in 1932. The Neo-Georgian building was originally used as the Stormont branch of the Provincial Bank of Ireland and was designed by Sir Arnold Thornely (1870-1953), a Liverpool-based architect who had designed the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board Building in 1903-07 was also responsible for the design of Parliament Buildings (HB26/13/013) and its two gate lodges (HB26/13/020-021). The Provincial Bank was roofed with Westmoreland slates and was constructed of the same Portland stone utilised for Stormont. Stewart & Partners, the local firm who were contracted to erect Parliament Buildings, also built the bank (Larmour, DIA).

The fifth edition Ordnance Survey map records the building had been constructed by at least 1938-39. The value of the Provincial Bank was set at £245 under the First Revaluation in 1935; this was raised to £266 by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72).

In 1966 the Provincial Bank of Ireland, along with the Royal Bank of Ireland and the Munster & Leinster Bank, became Allied Irish Banks Ltd. The bank vacated No. 33 Massey Avenue by 1988 when the building was sold into private ownership; the building was listed in the same year. The NIEA HB Records note that the building underwent a renovation in 1998 which included repairs to the roof, the replacement of defective rainwater goods and the cleaning and restoration of the external Portland stone. In 2013 the former bank was converted into a restaurant (NIEA HB Records).

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/3/5/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1938-39)
2. PRONI VAL/3/B/4/4 – First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland (1935)
3. PRONI VAL/4/B/3/21 – Second General Revaluation of Northern Ireland (1956-1972)
4. First Survey Record – HB26/13/010 (1983)
5. First Survey Image – HB26/13/010 (No Date)
6. NIEA HB Records – HB26/13/010

Secondary Sources
1. ‘Parliament Buildings Stormont: The building, its setting, uses and restoration 1922-1998’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1999.
2. Gallagher, J., ‘Stormont: The house on the hill’ Belfast: Booklink, 2008.
3. Larmour, P., ‘Belfast: An illustrated architectural guide’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1987.

Online Resources
1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie
2. Natural Stone Database - http://www.stonedatabase.com//stone_types.cfm?stc=45

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

Detached one and a half-storey stone former bank, built c.1932, to the designs of Arnold Thornely whowas alos responsible for the design of the main parliament building. Retaining most of its original materials and detailing, this former bank building is a fine example of early twentieth-century use of classical architectural motifs. Situated just outside the boundary of the main Stormont Estate, it forms an important component part of the group of structures at the Massey Avenue entrance, continuing the architectural style and materials of Stormont Parliament Building. The neo-Georgian building has been successfully conserved and adapted for re-use in recent years, has fine elaborately detailed interiors and has group value with the other listed buildings in the Stormont estate.