Bradbury Buildings

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A two-storey red-brick block of commercial buildings; built c. 1935 to designs by J.D Gordon and located east of Bradbury Place in Belfast city centre. Rectangular plan, angled to south end with two-storey hexagonal pavilion to southwest.

Flat-roof to main block; decorative copper roof to pavilion with finials and galleon weather-vane. Cast-iron rainwater goods with hoppers; plastic rainwater goods on overhanging corbelled eaves to pavilion. Walling is stretcher-bonded red-brick with cement pointing; corbel course between floors. Windows are a variety of plate-glass timber casements; pavilion has transomed and mullioned windows to first floor surmounted by leaded-and-stained glass panels with chamfered heads, divided by decorative egg-and-dart band. Some metal-framed casements to rear.

The principal elevation faces west and comprises a series of modern shop fronts (all with plate-glass windows) at ground floor. Central bay has a decorative gable and is three windows wide to first floor (that to centre is wider); flanked by slightly narrower bays with brick pilasters surmounted by masonry urns. To left and right of this central section is a bay three windows wide; hexagonal pavilion to extreme right.

The north elevation is abutted by adjoining building.

The east (rear) elevation has irregularly arranged fenestration and angled bay at left. Left bay has two windows at first floor left; window to landing level at right with modern timber door below. Right bay has four windows to first floor (irregularly spaced) and timber-sheeted door with side-lights and transom light to far right. Ground floor has four windows (some blocked) and a door to left and right of centre.

The south elevation is partially concealed; abutted at left by the two-storey hexagonal pavilion.

Setting:Accessed directly from public pavement, forming part of a more modern terrace to north; enclosed garden to rear.

Roof: Flat roof
Walling: Flemish-bonded red-brick
Windows: Timber casements
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

‘Bradbury Buildings’ was designed by Joseph Davidson Gordon and built between 1932 and 1933 for Martin Wallace, painter and decorator. The contractor was H & J Martin, Belfast. (www.dia.ie) The structure first enters valuation records in 1934 when it is recorded as a series of six units, mostly vacant at first and valued between £21 and £38. One unit was taken by the Seventh Day Adventists for use as a Mission Hall run by Pastor E Bailey in 1935 and another by ‘Madame Moya’. The upper portion of one unit is let as a ‘house’ to Robert Bailey at a valuation of £21. Martin Wallace himself occupied number 56.

A series of houses known as Albion Place stood on this site before 1833, but were demolished in 1866 to make way for the Central Railway, leaving the site vacant. The developer of the site, Martin Wallace, was living in Albion Place in 1880 and his son, born 1897/8, Martin Kelso Wallace, became an Ulster Unionist politician and Lord Mayor from 1961 to 1963. (Patton) The building is first shown on the 1938 OS map of the area.

J D Gordon (1894/5-1978/9) had set up in private practice in Belfast by the beginning of 1927, largely as an architect of domestic dwellings, and Bradbury Buildings appears to be one of the last private commissions he undertook before his appointment as surveyor to Lurgan Urban Council in 1934. In 1947 he was appointed county planning officer for County Armagh, a position which he held until 1974. (www.dia.ie)

Larmour comments, ‘A charming little brick range built as shops, offices and living quarters. Its quiet Neo-Georgian symmetry is offset by a jaunty pavilion overlooking the railway line, pagoda-like with a copper galleon finial’. The building remains in use as a series of commercial premises and offices, although some units are vacant.

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/1/61 – Seventh Edition OS map (1938)
2. PRONI VAL/12/F/3/14/1 – Annual Revisions (1930-35)

Secondary Sources

1. Brett, C.E.B., Gillespie, R. and Maguire W.A. “Georgian Belfast, 1750-1850, Maps Buildings and Trades” Dublin and Belfast: Royal Irish Academy and Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society, 2004
2. Patton, M “Central Belfast: An Historical Gazetteer” Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1993
3. www.dia.ie

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

Bradbury Buildings is a two-storey red-brick block of commercial units; built c. 1935 to designs by J.D Gordon and located east of Bradbury Place in Belfast city centre. Simply detailed, the group is an example of inter-war commercial architecture in the city. The hexagonal pavilion to south enlivens the quiet Neo-Georgian design and adds to the architectural interest of this otherwise austere block. Despite loss of interior detailing through refurbishment over the years, Bradbury Buildings is an important example of 1930s architecture by a local architect, and makes a significant contribution to the architectural character and variety of this part of Belfast.