Belfast Electric Light Station 6 Chapel Lane (and 9-13 Marquis Street) Belfast BT1 1HH

Belfast Electric Light Station

A relatively small, utilitarian, double-height former electrical generating station built in 1895, located between Chapel Lane and Marquis Street in Belfast city centre. It is Belfast's earliest power station and possibly the oldest surviving building of its kind in Northern Ireland. The structure has an irregular plan, with the western end rebuilt in 1923 when the building was converted to a sub-station. Several minor changes were carried out to the eastern end prior to this conversion. The building was decommissioned and its plant removed around the 1990s, and has remained largely unused since.

The building is sandwiched between Chapel Lane and Marquis Street and is largely obscured from public view by densely grouped neighbouring properties. Its gable-ended western elevation faces directly onto Marquis Street, whilst the main Chapel Lane end is set back within a small, enclosed and slightly sloping yard. The long south elevation is directly abutted by various buildings backing onto it from Castle Street. The north elevation is similarly backed onto by the relatively recently built parish hall of St Mary's Church (circa 2018) and another building within the church grounds.

The plan comprises two main sections joined at an angle: the larger original engine room section to the east and the rebuilt 1923 section to the west. The original eastern section has an irregular plan with its south wall splayed so that the western end is considerably wider. The entire structure is brick built, with the exposed part of the north elevation now rendered. Both sections have double-pitch gable-ended roofs slated with large central ridge lights.

The eastern elevation fronts onto a small enclosed yard with a brick yard wall featuring a concrete parapet and large vehicle access with metal roller shutter, apparently rebuilt around the 1960s. The elevation itself consists of a double-height brick gable with a single-storey projection to the left across the whole south side of the yard. The projection is constructed in two sections. The slightly taller inner section is original and once helped support a large cooling tank spanning the width of the gable and supported on the north side by another projection, both removed circa 1903-20. The north face of the original projection has two boarded-over windows and a doorway, with its roof hidden by a tall brick parapet that directly supported the tank. The lower part of the projection, added between circa 1903 and 1920, features a concrete parapet with what appears to be a flat roof behind, and contains a doorway with timber sheeted double door and a window with six-pane frame. A large concrete header spans over both openings and beyond, suggesting a much larger opening may once have existed.

The main gable has a parapet in the form of a small gable at the apex. Below this is a roundel ventilation opening, with a larger squarish ventilation opening to the left and another to the right, arranged asymmetrically. At ground level, right of centre, is a large vehicle access with concrete lintel and glazed white brick dressing, fitted with timber sheeted sliding doors visible from the interior. To the right of the access is a brick buttress, with the upper portion of a similar buttress visible above the projection. To the right of the right-hand buttress is a tall narrow opening.

The western elevation is another gable with a roundel ventilation opening near the apex. Directly below is a large central segmental-headed window with metal frame incorporating vents, resting on a flush concrete sill course, with several small square metal plates around the opening relating to internal steelwork. At ground level, in line with the window, is a doorway with a recent metal door, situated within what was originally a much larger opening apparently reduced circa 1980s-90s.

The south elevation is largely obscured, with only the upper level of the western 1923 section visible in brick and featureless. A small upper portion of the north elevation is visible, rendered and featureless.