76-88 ROYAL AVENUE AND

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A four storey end-of-terrace commercial building, built in two stages 1890 and 1896, in Victorian Italianate style. It curves around the southwest corner of the junction of Royal Avenue and North Street.

The original roof has been removed, the existing unseen behind cornice. Red brick walls in stretcher bond with full height pilasters; red sandstone moulded cornice, strings, lintels and voussoirs to window openings; terracotta machicolated moulded eaves frieze, moulded panels to third floor aprons and first floor spandrels (north of Haymarket Arcade spandrels are sandstone). Window openings to third floor have brick voussoirs to segmental arches or flat sandstone lintels; second floor segmental arches; first floor round arched; all windows 2 pane 1/1 original timber sashes. Ground floor has deep modern fascia and shop fronts below cornice.

The main, east elevation, first and second floors, is 13 window wide (2:1:1:1:3:1:1:1:2) with 3 to curved corner; attic level has 2 windows to single bays, 3 to double bays. An entrance through to Haymarket Arcade is positioned to the north of the central tripartite bay.

The south elevation is abutted and obscured by HB26/50/183.

The north elevation, first and second floors, is 5 windows wide with curved windows to each corner. The attic floor, with 6 windows, steps down to three storeys on west corner. The north elevation curves round by one bay to Gresham Street.

The rear, west elevation is a solid, rendered wall with the Haymarket Arcade throughway and a door to first floor to the north. Wrapped around ground floor are modern shop units.

Setting

74-88 sits directly on the west side pavement of the major commercial street of Royal Avenue at its junction with North Street forming a dominant corner of this major intersection. The rear elevation is accessed directly from Haymarket Arcade. The terraced building is bounded by listed building HB26/50/182 to the south. On the two facing corners of the junction are by listed buildings HB26/50/186 and Bank of Ireland (HB26/50/187)

Roof: Natural slate
Walling: brick
Windows: Timber
RWG: Hidden

Historical information

No 76-88 Royal Avenue, also known as Albert Chambers, an extensive four-storey redbrick building, was constructed between 1890 and 1896 and is one of the original buildings erected after the Royal Avenue redevelopment of 1880-81; the last building to be erected within nos 58-88 (HB26/50/181-184) along the west side of the street. The building was constructed in two main stages, the four original ground floor retail units had been constructed by 1890, however the upper floors were not added until 1894-96. The architect who designed nos 76-88 Royal Avenue is unknown, however it is known that the building was erected for Edward Rice, a local grain and flour merchant who had premises on Castle Lane and leased nos 76-88 Royal Avenue out to other businesses; however he utilised a number of stores at the rear of the premises for his own use.

By the completion of the block in 1896 the total rateable value of the building was set at £1,262; the building originally consisted of four ground floor retail units, whilst the upper floors were used as office space for a variety of private businesses and organisations. In 1901 the Belfast Street Directories notes that the four ground floor shops were occupied by M. Black & Co., merchant tailors, Mrs. Greenfield’s ladies and children’s clothes shop, Rudge Whitworth’s bicycle store, and New Rossleigh Cycle and Motor Co. Ltd which occupied the end unit. The upper floors were occupied by a large number of organisations and firms including insurance societies, solicitor’s offices, the office of N. Fitzsimons (a local architect) and the Civil Service Academy which occupied the entire top floor of the building (Belfast Street Directory – 1901).

Under the 1900 Belfast Revaluation the value of nos 76-88 Royal Avenue had been increased to £1,729 10s., over the following three decades the occupants of Albert Chambers changed with some frequency. In 1910 the Donegall Tweed Co. And James Cross’s fruit store took over occupancy of two ground floor retail units, whilst in 1918 a jewellery store occupied a ground floor unit and the upper storeys continued to be occupied by the same variety of accountants, solicitors and mutual assurance firms, including The Civil Service Academy which remained on the top floor of the building (Belfast Street Directories – 1910-1918).

By the cancellation of the Annual Revisions in 1930 the total value of nos 76-88 Royal Avenue had been reduced to £1,080, however under the First General Revaluation of property in Northern Ireland the value was once more increased to £1,977 10s. Royal Avenue was hit by falling bombs during the Belfast Blitz of 1941 when a number of its buildings were moderately damaged (it is not known whether nos 76-88 were amongst the idamaged buildings) and in the aftermath of the Second World War nos 76-88 Royal Avenue was included in the second revaluation which commenced in 1956. By the 1950s the redbrick building had been purchased from the estate of Edward Rice by a Mr. S. Johnston and in 1963 three of the ground floor retail units were combined into a single store occupied by Jackson’s Tailors. With the end of the revaluation in 1972 the total rateable value of nos 76-88 Royal Avenue had been increased to £4,028 15s.

Nos 76-88 Royal Avenue is one of many commercial properties erected on the newly created boulevard of Royal Avenue which was laid out in 1880-81 by the surveyor J. C. Bretland (who in the process relocated approximately 4,000 people). Prior to the redevelopment of the area Donegall Place and Hercules Street (the precursor to Royal Avenue) were divided by an additional line of buildings located on the eastern side of the current street. The demolition and clearing of Hercules Place and Hercules Street created the long open boulevard which now extends from Donegall Square to York Street; however it required the destruction of almost all the buildings on the street pre-dating the 1880s. The only building to survive the clearing of the area is the former Provisional Bank of Ireland (HB26/50/106) which continues to occupy the original line of Hercules Place (a narrow square that linked Donegall Place to Hercules Street) and as a result is set further back in the street than the adjoining buildings. Nos 76-88, along with the adjoining nos 58-74 (HB26/50/181; 182; 183), were amongst the last buildings to be erected along the western side of the newly laid out boulevard (Brett, p. 40; Patton, p. 282; p. 286).

Nos 76-88, also known as Albert Chambers, was described by Patton as a ‘long four-storey red brick building with red sandstone moulding and obtuse-angles corner onto North Street. Round-headed windows at north end of first floor have carved spandrels, with flowers as bosses to eyebrows over windows; swags in panels below third floor opes.’ Patton states that the building originally possessed a more interesting roofline consisting of gables, although these have been removed leaving the current roof flat. In the 1970s nos 76-88 fell vacant after being badly damaged in a fire; the injured building was converted into small retail units in 1978-81 (Patton, p. 288). Nos 76-88 Royal Avenue was listed in 1989, a number of the ground floor retail units continue to be occupied, however the upper floors currently lie vacant.

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/1/61/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1858
2. PRONI OS/6/1/61/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1901-02
3. PRONI OS/6/1/61/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1931
4. PRONI OS/6/1/61/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1938
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/E/1-13 – Annual Revisions 1862-1896
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/C/17-44 – Annual Revisions 1897-1930
7. PRONI VAL/7/B/9/24 – Belfast Revaluation 1900
8. PRONI VAL/3/B/3/13 – First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1935
9. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/41 – Second General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1956-72
10. Belfast Street Directories (1877-1918)
11. First Survey Image – HB26/50/183 (1976); HB26/50/182 (1977)
12. Ordnance Survey map 130-13NE (1959-60)

Secondary Sources
1. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Buildings of Belfast: 1700-1914’ Belfast: Friar’s Bush Press, 1985.
2. Patton, M., ‘Central Belfast: An historical gazetteer’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1993

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

This four storey Italianate brick end-of-terrace building 1890-95.

orms an important landmark, wrapping around the corner of a major junction in Belfast. From the late 19th century, it retains its Victorian Classical style and detailing although it has suffered damage to the roof.