Andrews Memorial Hall, 4 Ballgowan Road, Comber, Co. Down, BT23 5PG

Andrews Memorial Hall is a large two-storey hall built in 1914 at 4 Ballgowan Road, Comber, designed by the architects Young & McKenzie. Now part of Andrews Memorial Primary School, it was constructed as a memorial to Thomas Andrews junior, the talented engineer who designed the Titanic and perished on the ship's maiden voyage in 1912. His father, Thomas Andrews, had lived nearby at Ardara House.

The building is constructed in light-coloured snecked rock-faced sandstone with finely finished sandstone dressings to many openings. Its architectural style is generally gothic with Scots baronial and Tudor elements mixed in typical Edwardian fashion. The structure is prominently sited between Ballgowan Road and Carasure Terrace, roughly a quarter mile from Comber town centre.

The north-facing front gable is reminiscent of Presbyterian churches of the same era. The large central entrance is set within a Tudor arch in dressed sandstone with chamfered reveal. Above the double timber-sheeted door, which opens inward, is a three-pane fanlight with lattice glazing. The entire doorway sits within a slight recess. Above the door, the spandrel area is rendered in lighter-coloured Portland stone and features carved angle and cherub figures in relief with the inscription "Thomas Andrews Shipbuilder Memorial Hall" in raised lettering.

The doorway is set within a larger, slightly raised central bay with chamfered outer edges. These edges rise into half turrets set on dressed stone corbels, above which runs a thin beaded course. Each turret contains three tall slit windows with dressed stone surrounds and small stylised shield motifs carved above them. A curved castellated moulded string course stretches between the turrets across the outer edges of the main gable facade. The turrets project above the roofline and terminate in coursed octagonal spires with tiny ball finials.

At first-floor level, between the turrets, is a large window set with a chamfered Tudor arch reveal and bowed form. It features slightly stylised Perpendicular tracery and is divided into top and bottom sections by a thick frieze-like transom with carved decoration. The two central mullions rise above the window and through the label moulding. The window contains latticed panes set behind plain glazing. Directly above this window is a carved roundel depicting an anchor and the date "1914". On either side of the central bay, at ground floor level, are windows with four narrow lights, dressed stone surrounds and mullions, and small arched recesses above each light containing latticed panes. Below each of these windows is a polished granite panel with inscriptions in metal letters. Above each, at first-floor level, are carved heraldic motifs in the lighter stone. The gable is topped with a carved finial, with small shoulders roughly halfway along each side of the roofline. The castellated string course extends beyond the gable roofline into a proper castellation.

The east and west facades feature full-height tower-like bays housing the stairwells, with diagonal buttresses and castellations continuing around their tops. Each bay has a timber-sheeted ground-floor doorway with dressed stone above and curved moulding, approached by stone steps. Above the doorway at first-floor level is a large window with a shallow pointed arch head and stone tracery, set within a shallow recess with in and out dressings. Beyond these bays, the ground floors contain a series of flat-arch windows—six to each side—with timber frames, some narrower than others. At the far right of the west facade is a timber-sheeted door with a square four-pane fanlight above in lattice glazing. The east and west facades have eaves courses and chamfered bases. At first-floor level, both facades contain a series of tall windows with shallow pointed arch heads and timber tracery—four on the east, five on the west—separated by full-height buttresses.

To the far left of the east facade is a large projection with a full-height hipped roof and buttresses. Its north face contains a timber-sheeted door with a large fanlight and steps, plus a tall flat-arch window with timber frames matching those on the ground floors of the main facades. The first floor of this north face has a smaller window. The east face of the projection contains a small ground-floor window and a taller first-floor window, both similar in style. The south face has a single window at intermediate level.

The south gable contains four ground-floor windows similar to those on the east and west facades. At first-floor level to the right is a window resembling those on the first floors of the east and west facades, only smaller. To its left is a panelled and glazed door with a large fanlight above, matching the style of the adjacent window. A large fire escape stair adjoins this gable.

The roof is covered in natural slate with stone parapets. A small stone chimney stack rises at the rear gable, with metal rainwater goods throughout. A low rubble wall fronts the building, finished as a facade with stonework, and incorporates two sets of decorative wrought-iron gates set between octagonal cast-iron gate posts, with wrought-iron railings completing the boundary.

Originally serving as a community hall, the building was used by the military briefly in the early 1970s before becoming part of a school complex from the mid-1970s onwards. It is now owned by the South Eastern Education and Library Board, though the local community retains occasional use of the hall. The hall, gates and railings are all included in the listing.