2-14 Union Street, Belfast, County Antrim, BT1 2JF

A four-storey red brick former warehouse running along the south side of Union Street, turning the corner into Little Donegall Street. Built around 1895 by J.J. Stafford and Sons Ltd, the building retains its historic character and maintains its integrity as a warehouse through the rhythm of its facade and the structural cast iron columns.

The roof is pitched slate, unseen behind a solid parapet. A gutter sits on the facade, fed from the parapet gutter through arched outlets; it is uPVC, with round cast iron and replacement uPVC rainwater downpipes. The walls are red brick laid in English garden wall bond, with a moulded brick cornice. Moulded brick strings run below each cill level except at ground floor, where projecting brick connects the cills. A decorative band of terracotta plaques showing roses within whorls of foliage runs below the second floor string.

Windows to each floor have segmental arches with bullnosed surrounds and sandstone cills to the upper floors and grey stone to the ground floor. The ground floor windows to numbers 2-10 have been widened and are now obscured behind shutters and modern fascia. Three main doors have bracketed pediments over segmental arches. The windows are 2-pane 1/1 timber sashes; the doors are replacement timber.

The main northwest elevation is 21 windows wide with a one window-wide canted corner. A door sits at the left corner, followed by eleven windows to the right with a secondary door adjacent, and a further door located on the canted corner. The northeast side elevation is abutted by another building. The rear southeast elevation is abutted by a modern single-storey building, above which the wall is blank brick. The southwest side elevation is two windows wide with the canted corner to the left, matching the northwest elevation. A second-floor window has been replaced with louvred doors.

The building originally comprised two separate developments. Numbers 12 to 14 Union Street were built around 1895 as a wholesale boot and shoe warehouse and offices for W.J. Heuston. In 1900, Heuston built a further warehouse with shops on the ground floor on a vacant plot to the rear; these became number 2 (warehouse) and numbers 4-10 (shops), first appearing on the fourth edition Ordnance Survey map of 1901-2. The architect of both warehouses was John J. O'Shea, known to have designed a warehouse for Mr T. Houston in Union Street in 1900. O'Shea's practice included Catholic churches as well as commercial and domestic premises.

Numbers 12-14 cost £1,510 to construct and was valued at £110 in the Belfast Revaluation of 1900. The initial occupant of number 2 was Tom Stirling, valued at £33 in 1900. The shops were valued at £12 10s each and were initially let to H. Hook & Co (produce and commission agents), Agnew & Co (wholesale printers and stationers), and the Irish Loan Company. In 1911, J.J. Stafford and Sons Ltd took over the boot and shoe warehouse at numbers 12-14, remaining until the 1990s. The shops and warehouse to the rear passed through various tenants including drapers, hairdressers, booksellers, and engravers. The warehouses and shops are currently in use as a bar, restaurant, and sauna.