13-17 Lombard Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

An attached four storey six bay Victorian stone clad building built 1875-1878 to designs by Thomas Jackson & Son as a new premises for Patrick McGinnes (currently in mixed use) located to the east side of Lombard Street in the centre of Belfast. 'U'-shaped on plan facing east.

Pitched natural slate roof with flat lead section at ridge and six chimneystacks at various positions on the building, those to front of sandstone, those on north wall part sandstone with upper section blue/grey brick, those to rear red brick, all with sandstone copings and various fired clay chimney pots, plain and decorative; parapet gutters with circular cast-iron downpipes. Walling of front facade is part painted masonry and modern shopfront with Dalbeatie granite door surrounds and columns at ground floor and ashlar sandstone to upper floors. Exposed red brick English garden wall bond to side and rear. Evenly spaced arched windows at first floor, evenly spaced segmental windows at second floor and grouped segmental windows at third floor. Windows are painted timber 1/1 sliding sashes on masonry cills unless otherwise noted.

Principal (west) elevation ground floor has Monico Bars on left; off-centred passageway leading to Winecellar Entry; modern shop front of plate glass to right; and entrance to upper floors beside this. Monico Bars frontage comprises two square headed openings with timber fixed six light transom and mullion windows (top three stained and leaded glass) to left; shallow Tudor entrance with internal steel roller shutter and stained and leaded overlight over dentil course at right. Openings separated by moulded columns on chamfered plinth. Entablature over contains individually raised modern signage lettering in a plain frieze with console brackets at each end and dentilled cornice above; full length retractable awning below. The entry has an angled modern painted timber sign above with applied lettering. The modern Caffe Uno shop front with projecting sign and retractable awning retains the Dalbeatie granite panelled pilasters with plain capitals and sandstone console brackets over on either side. Office entrance comprises four panelled timber door with segmental over-light within chamfered granite door surround. Cornice of entablature above forms a continuous full width cill course for the first floor windows.

Widely spaced first floor arched windows with moulded 'plinth' course between and ornately carved string course at impost level.
Arches have moulded surround with projecting keystone and plain frieze above with triglyphs directly over keystones.
The elevation has been divided by un-stepped deeply chamfered quoins in the form of pilasters (2,3,1).

Second floor has widely spaced windows with moulded window surrounds with lugged base and projecting carved scroll keystone all on continuous moulded cill course. Divided as per first floor but with panelled pilasters with foliate capitals with bracketed cornice above forming continuous cill course for third floor windows.

Third floor windows are grouped (3,5,1) with continuous drip moulding and projecting carved scroll keystone over each group. Inset granite columns with foliate sandstone capitals separate windows within each group. Divided as per second floor but with plain capitals and scroll base surmounted by dentilled cornice with flat capped moulded pinnacles above.

Cill course, impost string course and bracketed cornice tie in at the same level as those on the adjoining building to south (HB26/50/281) which was designed by the same architect a few years earlier. The main bracketed cornice is also of the same pattern as that at 5-11 Lombard Street.

South elevation is abutted by adjoining building (HB26/50/281).

North elevation is abutted by adjoining building at ground floor level. Exposed section is blank with flat parapet, sandstone copings and two chimneystacks.

Rear (east) elevation is abutted at ground floor by adjoining building. Exposed section has projecting stairwell end bays. Red brick English garden wall bond rear wall with various window openings on each floor level of exposed wall.

Setting

The building is located on the east side of the pedestrianised Lombard Street in the centre of Belfast. It is adjacent to and north of Nos 5-1 (HB26/50/281).

Roof: Natural slate
Walling Sandstone/granite/brick
Window: Timber
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

The building was erected to designs by Thomas Jackson & Son not long after the construction of Lombard Street which was laid out in the 1870s to join Castle Place and Rosemary Street and which removed "two old tumble-down entries", Leggs Lane and Caddells Entry. These entries appear on the First and Second Edition OS Maps but Lombard Street and the building first appear on the Third Edition OS Map.

The building and its occupiers were not listed in the Ulster Street Directory/Belfast for 1877 indicating that the building was still under construction, but by 1880 No.13. was occupied by McMordie, H. & R. J., solicitors (1st floor), White, John C., solicitor, Baxter, Wm., solicitor and Darbishire, Jas. M., insurance & commission agent (2nd floor). No. 17 was recorded as being occupied by Boucher & Thompson, family grocers and wine and spirit merchants, but known as The Monico by 1901.
The Ulster Society of Architects had their offices at No.13 in 1910.

13-17 Lombard Street was erected shortly after the neighbouring building 5-11 Lombard Street (HB26/50/281), which was constructed to designs by the same architect.

References:

Primary Sources

1. First Edition OS Map (1833)
2. Second Edition OS Map (1860)
3. Third Edition OS Map (1938 revision)

Secondary Sources

1. Patton, Marcus. "Central Belfast A Historical Gazetteer." Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1993, p.218
2. www.dia.ie
3. www.lennonwylie.co.uk

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
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

V. Authorship
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

An attached four storey six bay Victorian stone clad building built 1875-1878 to designs by Thomas Jackson & Son as new premises for Patrick McGinnes. It is a good and intact representative of the type of commercial building that is becoming increasingly rare in the city and elsewhere. Most of the interior, including the safes, survives. It may be considered to have group value with the adjoining building (HB26/50/281) to the south that was constructed a few years earlier to designs by the same architect. The subtle contrast of detail and material compared with 5-11 is also of some interest. It is of note as an example of the minor works of a recognised architect who was involved with many significant buildings in Belfast.

General comments

Within Belfast City Centre Conservation Area

ref listing query HB26/LQ219