Lotus Factory, 184 Newry Road, Banbridge, Co Down, BT34 3NB

The Lotus Factory occupies a prominent position on the east side of what was formerly the main Belfast-Dublin road. Of the original complex, only the office block, a small section of the factory floor, a later detached gatehouse, and a free-standing chimney at the north-west survive.

The two-storey office block is aligned east-west along the south side of the site. Its east and west sections are slightly higher than the middle section, all with flat concrete roofs behind low concrete-coped blocking courses. The walls are of red brick throughout. The raised section at the west end incorporates the principal entrance, approached by four granite steps leading to a three-panel rotating entrance door with chamfered concrete jambs, a semicircular concrete canopy, and flanking wall lights. The door jambs continue upward to form the frame of a first-floor window opening containing a canted 3-by-7-paned window set back slightly, with deep concrete apron and head and a small rectangular canopy above. A vertical flagpole rises from the roof above this entrance. On the left (north) cheek of this section is a 3-by-8-paned window illuminating the main stairwell.

The south elevation is characterised by two continuous rows of metal windows, 3-by-3-paned to the ground floor and 3-by-4-paned to the first floor, set between structural reinforced-concrete uprights. All have brick-clad metal heads and share a common concrete sill. The first floor steps back at the west end to form a balcony accessed via four sets of double-leaf 4-paned French windows from inside. At the west end of the ground floor is a projecting three-quarter attached circular bay characterised by a continuous row of fifteen 1-by-3-paned metal windows with common concrete head and sill. Its flat concrete roof forms a continuation of the first-floor balcony, along which runs a 5-bar metal balustrade. This projecting bay is surrounded by a raised flower bed behind a concrete-coped retaining wall. Towards the east end of the south facade is a set of three 1-by-3-paned windows to each floor, both with common concrete heads and sills. The end section at the east is set back slightly and is slightly higher to accommodate an internal water tank and lift motor. It contains a 1-by-5-paned timber back entrance door with 1-by-5-paned sidelights under a concrete head and protected by a flat felted canopy. Above is a 3-by-8-paned metal window with concrete head and sill which lights the back stairwell, first-floor landing, and service room above. A narrow strip of grass runs the full length of this elevation, beyond which is a tarmacadam car park.

The east gable was formerly abutted by a two-storey continuation of the factory, added in the 1960s, which has been removed and the wall rendered over. Ground floor and first-floor doorways into the former extension have been infilled and rendered over but are still evident externally. The north elevation was formerly abutted by the main factory floor but the latter was demolished and the wall thus exposed rendered over. Some original openings were infilled and others modified during this process. Now there are five sets of 3-by-3-paned double-glazed uPVC windows along the ground floor, between pilastered structural columns, and four sets of narrow 3-by-3-paned uPVC windows to the first floor. There are also two windows to the service room at the east end of this elevation.

The single-storey factory floor ran along and beyond the north wall of the office block but has been demolished apart from its west wall and a small section of its roof truss behind. The west wall comprises a reinforced-concrete frame faced with brick. There are eight contiguous horizontal window panels along it, all sharing a common concrete head and sill. The 3-by-5-paned metal windows with 1-by-2-paned central openings are now only visible from the inside, having been sheeted over with photographs pasted on to the panels. At the top left-hand corner of the facade is an electric clock, with the hour indicators and hour-minute hands mounted directly on the brickwork. The left (north) end of the facade returns as a two-storey flat-roof brick building, only the west end of which now survives.

Abutting the left end of the facade is a single-storey loading bay, added in the mid-1960s. It is slightly lower than the rest of the facade and projects slightly therefrom. A low concrete-coped blocking course hides its flat concrete roof, which oversails at north and east. The walls are of textured brick. There are metal roller shutter doors on its north and east elevations, and a 2-by-4-paned metal window on the latter. At the north-west corner of this extension is a three-quarter attached circular granite gate pier with a vertical strip light embedded therein. This is an original feature which was relocated to its present position when the extension was built. The corresponding pier on the opposite side has disappeared, along with the gates.

The entire factory floor façade is fronted by a raised strip of grass retained behind a low brick wall. As noted above, the entire factory floor has been demolished except for the bay immediately behind its west façade. The roof of this bay comprises a triangulate glazed steel truss running north-south across the entire floor without the need for intermediate supporting columns.

A small single-storey, single-bay gatehouse stands adjacent to the goods entrance to the factory from the main road, probably erected in the mid-1960s. It has a flat concrete roof with 4-bar metal balustrade around its edge. The walls are of brick, curved to the principal (west) elevation. Continuous fenestration to the frontage comprises eight top-opening 1-by-3-paned metal panels with common concrete head and sill. A plain sheeted timber door is on the south elevation with a rectangular overlight. A small window is on the rear (east) elevation.

A free-standing two-stage chimney of mid-1960s date, a replacement of the original, stands at the north-west. Of cylindrical profile and standing to full height with a projecting circular concrete crown, it is of concrete construction with an outer skin of brick. The bottom stage contains three openings for flues (now removed) and for cleaning out purposes. A lightning conductor runs down its side.

The site is bounded by a brick wall surmounted by a painted metal vertical railing. The goods entrance is at the north-west and the office entrance at the south-west, both with concrete-capped square brick gate piers and replacement gates.