Ligoniel Branch Library

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Exterior Description and Setting:
Detached gable-fronted three-bay, two-storey with attic High Victorian former public baths and library built from red brick with Portland stone dressings in 1911-12 to designs by James Gardner Gamble. Projecting two-storey single gabled bay to north, single-storey red brick wings to east and west and a series of single storey extensions to north. The building is set within its own grounds at the corner of Ligoniel Road and Springvale Gardens.

Pitched natural slate roof with raised verge having Portland stone coping to south with lead flashing, clay ridge tiles, uPVC guttering, downpipes and hoppers. Red brick chimney stacks to north and south elevations, corbelled with projecting stone coping and red clay chimney pots. Hipped slate roof to north and south wings surmounted by continuous glazed roof lanterns. Hipped slate roof to rear extensions. Red brick walling laid in Flemish bond with ashlar stone quoins (spaced at three brick course intervals) and moulded plinth. Square-headed window openings having projecting ashlar surrounds and sills and replacement timber casement windows (unless noted otherwise).

Principle elevation is symmetrical and faces south. Pedimented gable with moulded stone verge and cornice over plain Porland stone frieze atop moulded string course. Portland stone kneelers. Central oculus having ashlar surround with raised keystones. Moulded brackets to recessed central bay. Square-headed windows to first floor having ashlar surround and projecting sill. Central square-headed canted window to ground floor with entablature over, block ashlar surround and projecting sill which is flanked by two round-top arched openings with moulded hood, square-headed timber doors with glazed panels and fanlight over. Rusticated ashlar surround and moulded architrave. Stone steps leading to entrance level. Three-bay single-storey wings flanking main building, to east and west having oculus openings (now blind) to each bay framed by moulded brick headers. Continuous glazed lanterns span the full length of the hipped roofs over these E and W wings.

East Elevation
Chimney stack supported on two-stage stepped corbel with round-top arched recess to two storey abutment. Hipped gable to single storey wing with continuous glazed lantern over in turn having hipped roof with lead flashings.

West Elevation
Chimney stack supported on two-stage stepped corbel with round-top arched recess to two storey abutment. Hipped gable to single storey wing with continuous glazed lantern in turn having hipped roof with lead flashings.

North Elevation
Series of square-headed openings to gabled rear projection with some remaining two over one sliding sash timber windows with scrolled horns; brick soldier course headers.

Setting:
The building is located within its own grounds with a red brick dwarf wall to south and east having chamfered Portland stone copings with iron railings over; this wall steps in response to the site slopes. Gateways to south and east have square pillars with red brick and Portland stone banding with moulded Portland stone plinth and overhanging corniced coping stone and cast-iron gate. Rendered boundary wall with metal fence to north; hedge to west. Ramp at south-west side, with modern metal railings, leading to west entrance door.

Materials:
Roof : Natural slate
RWG: uPVC
Walling : Red brick with Portland stone dressings
Windows: Replacement timber casement to south and two over one sash to north

Historical information

Ligoniel Branch Library, a two-storey red brick building flanked with single-storey wings, was constructed in 1911-12 and was originally utilised as public baths. By the late-Victorian period, health was becoming an ever-growing concern in the heavily industrialised city of Belfast. Amongst the working classes, the majority of dwellings on the terraced streets possessed only basic sanitation facilities and even fewer possessed bathrooms. The construction of a series of public baths throughout Belfast (commissioned by Belfast Corporation in the 1880s to 1890s) attempted to alleviate the squalor in working class areas by supplying modern facilities for bathing, whilst also providing swimming pools for leisure and entertainment. The first buildings to be constructed were Peter’s Hill Baths in 1879 (now demolished), Ormeau Baths in 1888 (HB26/30/041), and Templemore Avenue Baths in 1891 (HB26/08/003).

Ligoniel Public Baths was a relatively late addition to the Corporation’s public health scheme. Due to the growth of the Ligoniel area, in 1910 the Corporation’s Bath and Lodging House Committee decided to construct additional baths on the Ligoniel Road. The new building was constructed to designs by James Gardner Gamble (c. 1861-1956), a local architect who was the Corporation’s chief architect and had been the clerk of works at Belfast City Hall during its erection in 1896-1906 (HB26/50/001). Gamble designed the new baths along the standard layout of the previous structures on Templemore Avenue and Ormeau Avenue but Larmour states that Gamble carried out the detailing of the building in an English Classical ‘Wrenaissance’ style. (Larmour, p. 78). The local building firm of Isaac Copeland was appointed to erect the new baths. The contract between Copeland and the Corporation was signed in June 1911 and the Building News notes that the building’s slipper baths were added in 1912. The Ligoniel Public Baths were opened in 1912 and was valued at £80 by the Annual Revisions upon its completion (Building News, p. 183; DIA).

Contemporary photographs of Ligoniel Public Baths (dated c. 1925) record that the appearance of the building has not been discernibly altered in the last century (Baker, p. 5). The baths continued to operate from the building until it was closed following the Second World War. On 4th February 1946 the former public baths was reopened after being converted into a library. As a result of the change in use, the rateable value of Ligoniel Public Library was raised to £110 under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1937-56). The rateable value was further raised to £208 by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72). Ligoniel Public Library continued to operate from the former baths until the library was closed in June 2010.

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/1/60/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1901)
2. PRONI OS/6/1/60/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1920-31)
3. PRONI OS/6/1/60/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1920-38)
4. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/M/1-7 – Annual Revisions (1897-1930)
5. PRONI VAL/3/C/3/22 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
6. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/35 - Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
7. PRONI LA/7/29/CB/46 – Contract between Isaac Copeland and the Corporation of Belfast (1911)
8. Building News (9 Aug 1912)
9. Ulster Town Directories (1910-1943)
10. First Survey Record – HB26/39/003 (1986)

Secondary Sources
1. Baker, J., ‘Snapshots of Belfast: 1925-1929’ Belfast: Glenravel Local History Project, 2008.
2. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Buildings of Belfast, 1700-1914’ Belfast: Friars Bush Press, 1985.
3. Larmour, P., ‘Belfast: An illustrated architectural guide’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1987.
4. Royle, S. A., ‘Portrait of an industrial city: ‘Changing Belfast,’ 1750-1914’ Belfast: Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society, 2011.

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
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

Renaissance Revival style former public baths, dating from 1911-12 to designs by James Gardner Gamble using red brick with Portland Stone dressings. Symmetrical two-storey with attic and pedimented gable flanked by single-storey wings, commissioned by the Belfast Corporation in response to the ever-growing concern for public health in the heavily industrialised city of Belfast in the late Victorian era. Gamble was the Corporation's chief architect and this building follows similar structures at Ormeau Avenue (HB26/30/041) and Templemore Avenue (HB26/08/003). The purpose of public or 'slipper' baths was to alleviate the squalor of the city's working class population, the majority of whom lived in terraced streets with little or no sanitation facilities. The principle elevation indicates two separate entrances to the building, leading to male and female 'wings' - a common trait of public-baths. Gamble was the clerk of works for Belfast City Hall (HB26/50/001) from 1896-1906 and some traces of influence, such as the rounded hood moulds and the pediment, are evident. Following the closure of the public baths in WW2, the building was converted into a public library in 1946 and continued to be used as such until its closure in 2010. The original plan form is largely intact, as are the elegant glazed lanterns to E and W wings supported on steel trusses and tie rods that are exposed internally. Several other internal features have also survived. The building is located in a prominent position along Ligoniel Road, directly opposite the entrance to Glenbank Park. It retains many architectural features including Portland stone hood moulds, cornicing, oculus and other dressings. The perimeter walls and gate screens to the S and E boundaries, with stone banded pillars, moulded caps and copings further enhance the character and add to the significance of this important historic building.