The Ulster Architectural Heritage Society (UAHS) has reported on the contracting futures of art deco buildings in the city, condemning the demolition of the Orpheus and the Metropole buildings, whilst also hoping for a heritage led future of the former Bank of Ireland building which has recently been sold.
Ulster Architectural Heritage Society (UAHS) writes:
The Ulster Architectural Heritage Society acknowledges with regret the demolition of the Metropole building, York Street over the weekend of 17-18 October, and the anticipated demolition of the adjacent Orpheus building.
Since 2011 the UAHS has called for an alternative plan for the Ulster University development, one that integrated irreplaceable historic buildings into its plans. It appears that the University is going ahead with the complete demolition of this group of buildings, signaling further erosion to Belfast’s already compromised historic environment.
The Orpheus and the Metropole were not listed. They are adjacent to, but not located inside the Belfast City Centre and Cathedral Quarter conservation areas. The lack of protection afforded to them left them vulnerable to inappropriate alteration or demolition. In an attempt to protect the buildings, UAHS twice put the Orpheus forward to the Department of the Environment for listing. We highlighted the positive contribution it affords to the two adjacent conservation areas.
Unfortunately these considerations were not successful in changing the progression of the plans, and demolition was approved by the Department of the Environment in 2013. A decision made prior to local government reform and the transfer of planning to Belfast City Council in 2015.
Both the Orpheus and Metropole buildings are among the limited and increasingly diminishing stock of Belfast buildings in the Art Deco style. Belfast’s historic environment has already been significantly compromised by the loss of built heritage to the Blitz and the Troubles. This has been compounded by a limited appreciation on the part of main government and corporate bodies of the advantages of heritage led regeneration. It is regrettable to see the Orpheus and Metropole join the old Great Victoria Street Station, the Grand Central Hotel and Great Victoria Street Baptist Church, (incorporating ‘Belfast’s smallest house’), in a long list of buildings which we now mourn.
We note significant public concern about these demolitions both on social media, and in direct correspondence to UAHS. We now turn to Belfast City Council, in their new responsibility for planning and regeneration, to ask for better measures for the retention and reuse of our historic buildings, as valuable assets for the economic, social and cultural well-being of the city.
Former Bank of Ireland
The former Bank of Ireland on Royal Avenue was designed by J.V. Downes of McDonnell & Dixon of Dublin between 1928 and 30. Distinctly Art Deco in style, constructed of a steel frame clad in Portland stone. One of the most notable examples of a limited number of Art Deco buildings in Belfast, the Bank of Ireland, Royal Avenue has featured on the UAHS Built Heritage at Risk database for over 10 years.
We continue to receive a significant amount of enquiries regarding its protection and future. Much of its historic fabric and detailing survive, including detailed stone features and metal window panels and doors. It is also acknowledged to be an early example of the use of a steel frame structure. We hope that the recent acquisition will signal an opportunity for the positive, heritage led regeneration of the Bank of Ireland, one that respects its listed historical and architectural attributes in full.
View the press release on the Bank of Ireland
View the press release on the Orpheus and the Metropole buildings
