25 Knockagh Road, Newtownabbey, Co.Antrim, BT36 8BW

25 Knockagh Road, Jordanstown

A split-level, multi-bay International style house built in 1970 to designs by Michael Ferguson. The building faces south on the east side of Knockagh Road and is constructed on a sloping site.

The house comprises a lower entrance storey with a cantilevered principal floor projecting over an opening at the north west. The roof is flat with a monopitched central section, covered in single-ply membrane with a painted timber fascia. Construction uses load-bearing walls to the end bays, while the central bay is constructed on a steel H-frame and cantilevered over the lower storey. External walls are painted smooth render with incised contrasting banding to the left bay and west elevation, part unpainted sand lime brick, and isolated sections of glass brick. All soffits are timber sheeted.

Windows throughout are plate glass aluminium framed casements of various sizes, mostly without glazing divisions. The principal south elevation is organised in three basic sections, with the central section projecting forward. The lower storey is recessed, with the principal entrance contained in a further recess to the left of centre. The left section features painted render with a square window to the lower storey and a large picture window to the principal floor. The central section has a concrete brick lower storey with a horizontal window and square window to the left cheek, beneath a fully glazed cantilevered bay above. To the right of the central section, the lower storey is a recessed raised basement painted black. At the left is a recessed patio door opening onto a deck fronted by a sand lime brick parapet dropping to ground level; at the right is a rectangular block containing two windows. The entrance comprises an oak sheeted door surmounted by a fixed panel with full height glazing either side in timber frames.

The west elevation has three openings to each level. The lower storey is slightly recessed and contains a timber sheeted service door and two small windows. The principal storey has three equally spaced patio doors opening onto a deck supported on a steel platform with steel supports. A utility entrance block, recessed to the left, has a full height window.

The north elevation comprises two projecting geometric bays with various horizontal and vertical strip windows, separated by a recessed glazed panel and a recessed patio door leading to a further deck. The recessed lower storey is blank to the left end. A single-storey right end is abutted by a sand lime brick utility block and carport covered by a single flat roof floating on timber sheeted beams. The utility block has a full-height uPVC window to the north, a full-height glass brick panel, and a timber sheeted door to the left cheek; the carport is enclosed with the roof supported to the west side by a sand lime brick wall. The east elevation has two windows, one square and one vertical.

The setting comprises a mature, elevated, landscaped site with terraced lawns, mature trees, and a river diverted into three connected pools. A single-storey rendered outbuilding block with a monopitched roof stands to the north east, designed in a similar style to the main house. The entrance is at the west with a tarmac drive circumventing the house to north and south, accessed from the road via two circular rubble stone faced piers. The location commands panoramic views over Cave Hill and Belfast Lough to the south.