261A Belmont Rd

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A two-storey three bay flat-roofed Modernist house built in 1937 to designs by local architect Anthony Frederick Lucy. Rectangular plan form facing N with full height return to SW abutted by single storey flat roofed extension in similar style to SE. Single storey single bay block abutted to W, which may originally have been a garage; stream-form curved bay windows flank central door of two storey section. Rendered and painted walls with raised band detailing to parapet, window surrounds and chimneys. Situated within an area of suburban development to the S of the Belmont road and W of Pirrie Road.

Flat roof set behind raised parapet with polygonal cast iron hoppers discharging to circular section cast iron downpipes. Rectangular section chimneys to E and W with two terracotta pots to E and one to W chimney.

Principal elevation
The front elevation has a main two-storey three bay section with projecting GF having curved ends and raised parapet forming a balcony at FF level; single storey one bay section to W. Main entrance door to centre bay flanked by stream-form curved bay windows. Horizontal tubular metal railings to flat roof of projecting curved bays. Entrance bay projects slightly from flanking curved bays having a square-headed door opening surmounted by blank round arch smooth render panel. Timber door with horizontal panels to bottom section, Art Deco leaded geometrical stained glass to top half and replacement brass furniture. Curved bays have original metal framed single glazing, with curved sections, divided by thin horizontal glazing bars. Original Art Deco chevron detailing to small top opening window of curved GF bays. Replacement uPVC windows in similar style to upper floor corner windows and single storey section to W. Window of single storey section has flat pediment-like contrasting band to window surround. FF has 3 bays with central shallow projecting bay having replacement uPVC double leaf glazed doors with coloured glass topped by Art Deco stepped detailing and projecting keystone. Concrete cills to windows.

East elevation
Partially obscured by site boundary and housing to E. Three bay main section of house with replacement uPVC corner windows at FF level and smaller rectangular uPVC window to centre. Partly engaged chimney breast, stepped to N at FF cill level, extends to roof level, where smaller rectangular section chimney rises above parapet. Replacement uPVC corner windows to two-storey return at FF level. Single storey flat roof extension to S.

South elevation
No access to rear of building with the following features visible from public footpath to SE. Two-storey return with central double leaf uPVC doors at FF level with Art Deco stepped detailing above; horizontal tubular metal balconette railings. Replacement uPVC corner windows to eastern side of return and main building as before.

West elevation
Western elevation is obscured by site boundary. Square headed window to centre of single storey section and similar window to two-storey section. Staggered irons provide access to flat roof from roof of single storey section. Rectangular section chimney to main two storey building with no external chimney breast.

Setting:
Located on the S side of the Belmont road, the principal entrance to the house is approached by a short tarmaced driveway to the NW corner of the site. Access is gained through a set of iron sunburst gates hung on iron posts. Tarmaced pathway leads E to main doorcase. Modest garden laid out in lawn with mature shrubs to N of main door and garden to rear S, site enclosed by square cut hedging.

Roof: flat roof
RWGs: polygonal cast iron hoppers discharging to circular section cast iron downpipes
Walling: rough cast cement render walling with raised smooth render bands
Windows: original single glazing with horizontal bars to GF curved bays, uPVC to remainder of GF & FF

Historical information

No. 261A Belmont Road, a two-storey flat-roof dwelling, was constructed in 1937. The suburbs to the south and east of Belfast underwent tentative development 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 the construction of suburban housing in this area gained speed. No. 261A Belmont Road was constructed as part of this early pre-war suburban development and is an excellent example of a modernist house, of which there are few remaining examples in Northern Ireland.

The modernist dwelling was constructed to designs by Anthony Frederick Lucy, a local architect 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’ (DIA). The Irish Builder records that Lucy designed a house on Belmont Road in 1937 which was undoubtedly No. 261A Belmont Road. Lucy had also designed a house in Shandon Park and No. 9A Ascot Gardens (see HB26/11/001), both of which are remarkably similar in style to No. 261A Belmont Road. (Irish Builder, p. 450).

The dwelling was first recorded in the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) which noted that the house was owned by a Mr. N. J. Luke. The completed house was leased to J. F. Mason and was initially valued at £44. Luke leased the house to a Mr. George Jenkins, a director in a local company, during the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) which increased the value of the site to £53.

In 1991 the Northern Ireland Historic Buildings Council recommended the statutory listing of No. 9A Ascot Gardens on the basis that ‘the loss in recent years of other modernist houses in the area [made it] a rare example of its type.’ No. 261A Belmont Road is an equally rare example of Lucy’s modernist design. The First Survey Record described it as ‘a flat-roofed box-like white modernist house with stream-form curved bay windows flanking central porches and corner windows to first floor. Ground floor bays have original horizontally divided metal windows but elsewhere windows mostly replaced by wood, not to original glazing pattern.’ The single-storey flat roof extension to the rear is not original but was added after 1954 as it was not depicted on the Ordnance Survey map in that year.

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/3/4/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey map (1931)
2. PRONI VAL/3/C/C/29-31 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
3. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/45 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
4. Irish Builder (2 Nov 1935)
5. Ulster Town Directories (1935-1995)
6. Ordnance Survey Map – 130-15NE (1954; partially revised 1987)
7. First Survey Record – HB26/13/024 (No Date)
8. First Survey Image – HB26/13/024 (No Date)
9. NIEA HB Records – HB26/13/024 (Missing)

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
H+. Alterations enhancing the building
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
V. Authorship
R. Age
X. Local Interest
Z. Rarity

Evaluation

A good example of a Modernist house, built in 1937 to designs by local architect Anthony Frederick Lucy. A two-storey three bay flat-roofed house in rectangular plan with single storey flat roofed extension, built post 1954. The house retains much of its original character and style with corner windows, white walls with black raised band detailing, roof parapets and balcony railings accentuating elements of its design and form. Notable features typical of the era include stream-form curved bay windows, flanking the central door, with original curved single glazing incorporating Art Deco chevron detailing on the front elevation and stepped Art Deco detailing on the upper balcony doors. A now rare example of a Modernist dwelling, 261A Belmont Road has a striking box-like appearance which adds to the local interest and architectural diversity of this area of suburban Belfast.