Danske Bank, 39 Market Street, Lurgan, Co Armagh, BT66 6AB

Danske Bank, 39 Market Street, Lurgan

This is a Late Victorian bank built around 1901 to designs of architect Godfrey Ferguson. The building is situated on the main street in Lurgan town centre at the junction of Market Street and Carnegie Street, amongst other mixed-use commercial buildings.

The bank is L-shaped in plan, comprising a 2-storey front elevation to the north and a 3-storey return to the south, which originally housed the Bank Manager's house. A 2-storey flat-roofed infill extension of mid-to-late 20th-century date has been added to the main front elevation on the north-east side, and a large single-storey flat-roofed extension has been added to the rear south-west, abutting the return.

Materials include Westmoreland slate to the original roofs, with single-ply membrane to flat-roofed extensions. Rainwater goods comprise cast metal to the front and uPVC to the rear. The walls are constructed of smooth red clay brick and yellow sandstone, with brick laid in Flemish bond to the front and English garden wall bond to the rear. Windows are generally 1/1 single-glazed sliding-sash in painted timber, with some top-hung uPVC windows to the rear return and modern rear extensions.

The front elevation (north-east) consists of an original 2-storey 3-bay classical façade to the right-hand side and a Modernist 2-storey infill bay to the left. The façade splays at the corner of Market Street and Carnegie Street, with the main entrance to the bank hall positioned at this corner. The main façade features rusticated sandstone at ground level and red brick at upper level. Window openings are square-headed with ornate sandstone surrounds and pediments. At ground level, ashlar stonework is present at plinth level with a string course at cill level. Stonework is rusticated above cill level, with window surrounds displaying bolection mouldings with keystone detail and cornice at head level. A modern painted metal or acrylic sign plate reading "Danske Bank" is located above the central window. A string course is positioned at first floor level. Windows are 1/1 timber sliding sash. The main entrance comprises a square-headed door opening with black granite moulded door surround and ornate pediment—a triangular broken pediment with moulded brackets and decorative red sandstone oval panel with scrolled edges and raised lettering reading "N B Co Ltd". The doorway retains original painted timber double-leaf panelled entrance doors with brass knobs. A small ramped access to the doorway is finished with black square tiles and modest painted metal guarding with a circular handrail. The first floor level is generally red brick in Flemish bond with windows similar to the ground floor but with alternating segmental and triangular pediments to their heads.

The Modernist infill bay to the left consists of vertical panels of granite and brown brick with a plain sandstone plinth and fascia panel. Two reproduction 1/1 sliding-sash windows are incorporated into the granite panel. Two automated teller machines are mounted in the brick panel at ground level. At eaves level, decorative sandstone string courses and stone brackets support a painted metal ogee gutter. The downpipe is replacement painted metal. The roof is hipped with Westmoreland slates and one tall rectangular red-brick chimney on the left-hand side, featuring decorative sandstone projections at the cap and red clay pots. A single small roof-light is present on the roof.

The rear elevation (south-west) is generally plainly detailed with red-brick walls in English garden wall bond. On the left-hand side at ground level is an original single-storey gable with a modern escape door in the centre and a modern top-hung uPVC window to the right, with modern galvanized metal steps. At eaves level, projecting brick courses support a painted metal ogee gutter. The roof is hipped with Westmoreland slate covering. The gable to the return above the single-storey projection is plainly detailed with one square-headed window on the far right at each level (first and second floors). Window heads are brick soldier course and cills are masonry. The first floor window is top-hung uPVC with a metal grille; the second floor window is 1/1 painted timber sliding sash. Eaves are plain with painted timber fascia and soffit and painted metal ogee gutter. The roof is as per the front elevation. To the right at ground level is a large 20th-century flat-roofed extension abutting the single-storey gable and most of the rear elevation. Above this on upper levels is the original rear wall of the bank on the left (1 bay) and the rear wall of the 20th-century Modernist infill on the right (plain smooth red brick). The rear wall of the bank is detailed as per other elevations with a square-headed window at second floor level (top-hung uPVC) and a modern escape door below this at first floor level. The escape door opens onto a modern metal escape bridge at first floor level with metal railings, leading to metal escape stairs on the south-east boundary. Eaves and roof are generally as per the elevations on the return; a small section of flat parapet with plain masonry coping is present at eaves above the re-entrant angle to the return and to the right-hand side of the bank wall at the junction with the modern infill extension.

The side elevation of the rear return (south-east) has a mixture of square-headed openings at upper levels, similar in detail to others. It is rendered at ground level where there is a narrow external lightwell adjacent to the modern flat-roofed rear extensions. Windows are mainly top-hung uPVC with metal grilles. Eaves and roof are generally as per other elevations on the return. Rainwater goods are painted metal and uPVC.

The side elevation (north-west) is 2-storey to the left-hand side and 3-storey to the right with a single-storey bay attached. The left-hand side is similar to the front façade and comprises 2 bays with a large semi-circular arched opening to the right-hand side bay. The arched opening, probably the original doorway to the Bank Manager's House, has a large keystone head and plain ovolo architrave. It contains a round-headed window in the upper half and ashlar stonework to the lower half (possibly later). The right-hand side is 3-storey with 2 narrow bays. Windows in this section are square-headed with plain sandstone surrounds and 1/1 sliding-sash windows (windows diminishing at second floor level). The walls of this section are red brick on each level with a deep stone plinth below ground floor cill level. Eaves and roof are similar to the front elevation. Two chimneys similar in detail to the front elevation are present (one centrally located and one to the right-hand side). A small single-storey bay is attached to the far right-hand side of the elevation with a pair of 1/1 sliding windows in similar detail. The stone plinth is continuous with adjacent bays and a plain stone fascia at eaves level supports a painted metal ogee gutter. The roof is hipped and in Westmoreland slate. To the right of this elevation is a yard area to the bank with a plain boundary wall; the wall is cement rendered with tall plain piers in the centre and a pair of replacement galvanised metal gates. Adjacent to this is the Carnegie Library.

The side elevation (south-east) is abutted to nos. 43-45 Market Street, Lurgan. To the rear of the bank is an enclosed yard with high walls and tarmacadam ground finish. The yard is bounded to the south-east by the rear return and yard wall of the adjacent property (nos. 43-45 Market Street). There is a smooth rendered and red-brick wall and gateway to the north-west along Carnegie Street, and a red-brick and random rubble wall to the south-west boundaries with the Carnegie Library, with an original arched pedestrian gateway featuring a painted metal gate to the south-west wall.