Gate lodge, Dalriada House, 684 Shore Road, Jordanstown, BT37 0QB

Gate Lodge to Dalriada House

This is a detached, symmetrical single-storey gate lodge built circa 1855, located to the west of Shore Road in Jordanstown with views across to Belfast Lough. The building is rectangular on plan and classically styled, constructed for the Johnston family estate. It is recorded in Griffith's Valuation of 1859 as the gate lodge of Dalriada House, when the entire estate including house, offices and lodge was valued at £135. The lodge may have been designed by architect Thomas Turner, though this remains unconfirmed.

The lodge comprises three bays. The roof is hipped and slated, pitched higher to the north end, with rendered chimneys to the north and east surmounted by simple corbelled coping and replacement pots. The walls are smooth rendered with simple moulded entablature and cornice.

The principal elevation faces north and features a central pedimented portico supported on slim Doric columns, surmounted by entablature and a triangular pediment. The entrance door is centred to this elevation with a cavetto moulded architrave and plinth, flanked by Doric pilasters. The outer bays each contain a single window. Windows are square-headed with painted moulded surrounds and masonry sills, now blocked. The east elevation has two windows. The south elevation contains a window opening to the left, a small opening to the centre, and a door and window to the right. All openings have plain banded surrounds. The wall head to the south side features only a plain banded cornice without entablature. The west elevation has a single window to the centre, breaking the line of entablature.

The building now stands derelict and suffers from vandalism including graffiti. Despite its current condition, it remains elegantly detailed and makes a positive contribution to the setting of the university and the landscape.

The setting includes a garden to the east and south, bounded at Shore Road by hedge. Remains of a brick outbuilding survive at the south-east corner of the site, with a retaining wall and mature gardens to the west. The entrance to Dalriada House lies to the north.