10 College Gardens, Belfast

10 College Gardens, Belfast

A Grade B2 listed building, this is an end-of-terrace three-storey double-fronted red brick town house built in 1877 to designs by architect William Batt. It forms part of a symmetrical block of four properties (Nos 7, 8, 9 and 10 College Gardens), with No. 10 mirroring No. 7 at the gable end. The building is located at the eastern end of College Gardens, a tree-lined street of similarly scaled townhouses running from Malone Road to Lisburn Road, within the Queens Conservation Area. The properties face south and overlook the grounds of Methodist College.

The main structure is accompanied by a two-storey gabled return built at half-landing level to the rear (north), abutted by a flat-roofed single-storey extension to the east, and adjoined by a two-storey duo-pitched red brick building facing Elmwood Mews (dating from around 1998 and of little historic interest). An external spiral stair with mesh cladding connects to fire exits at the rear near the gable end. The building is currently used as a Young People's Centre and is set back from the street by a tarmacked car park with mature hedging along the boundary.

The roof is covered in natural slate (Bangor Blue) with black clay ridge tiles. A large red brick chimney is centred on the gable of the main roof, featuring a corbelled cap in brick specials and eight circular red clay pots; a similar chimney opposite has sixteen pots (shared with No. 9); a smaller chimney centred on the gable of the return carries two octagonal yellow clay pots. Projecting stone eaves with corbelled brick specials (roll-edged dentils on cogging and stretcher courses) are returned at the gable end with similar corbelled brick verge detail carried across the base of the chimney.

The walls are constructed of red brick in Flemish bond with blue brick string courses and alternating soldier courses on the main building; the return uses English Garden Wall bond. Rainwater goods comprise cast iron to the south elevation and uPVC to the north and return.

The front elevation faces south with a central entrance flanked by two projecting bays. The eastern bay is squared and full-height with two windows per floor, shouldered at second floor level and terminating in a hipped roof with decorative cast iron rail and finials to the platform ridge. The western bay is canted and two-storey with a lead roof. A projecting rubble-stone base plinth with chamfered blue brick top runs across the front; masonry cills (probably sandstone with some concrete repairs) and lintels (mostly sandstone with concrete replacements) continue as two blue brick string courses with a red course between, featuring stop-chamfered reveals. The central entrance is formed in alternating red and blue soldier courses (in threes) with a dressed sandstone hood mould and label stops; above the square-headed panelled timber double doors is a plain fanlight, flanked by grey marble colonnettes with dressed sandstone capitals, collar and base on toothed quoins. Carved foliage detail appears on the label stops, base and capitals. An alternating blue and red brick soldier course repeats as segmental relieving arches to windows above the door and at ground and first floor levels in the squared bay; hoods are formed in angled blue bricks. Second-floor windows are replacement timber-framed 1/1 sliding sashes with double-glazed units.

The rear (north) elevation, which originally was symmetrical with the centrally placed two-storey gabled return, has been significantly altered. A flat-roofed extension now fills part of the yard at the left (east) side, and a glazed link connects a two-storey extension set at 90 degrees to the return at the right (west) side; this latter addition dates from around 1998 and encloses the rear boundary to form a small courtyard. The rear elevation is more plainly detailed than the front, with shallower masonry cills and red brick soldier coursing above windows with projecting headers at eaves. To the left of the return are one window each at first and second floors; corresponding openings at the right now contain modern fire doors exiting onto the external spiral stair. Two modern side-hung casement windows with concrete cills and lintels appear above the return at second floor, with a further leaded glass window (double-glazed) placed centrally at half-landing level. A brick chimney sits at the gable end of the return; clipped eaves and one sliding sash window with 2/2 panes offset to the right at first floor are present, otherwise the gable is blank. The flat-roofed extension has an asphalt roof membrane, painted timber eaves board, and one timber-framed casement window and door. The two-storey addition features an artificial slate roof, smooth red brick walls and timber casement windows, with rendered ground floor walling to the elevation facing Elmwood Mews.

The west elevation comprises two parts: the gable end to the main building and the side elevation to the return. The gable is less formal than the front elevation but largely symmetrical, detailed similarly with blue brick string courses, hood moulds and sandstone cills and lintels (with replacements noted). Two windows centred on the chimney appear at each floor, flanked by a further window at far ends to ground and first floors. Only four of the ten openings retain original sandstone lintels (ground floor at far left and right; first floor at far right; second floor left—the latter opening now bricked up); concrete lintels replace the remaining six. A top-hung uPVC double-glazed casement appears at the first floor central window, left. The return is plainly detailed as the rear elevation, with a full-height lean-to at the re-entrant angle to the main building; two windows at first floor and a single-storey glazed link with artificial slate mono-pitched roof lead to the two-storey addition. The original window remains at the right (south) at first floor; all other windows are modern casements.

The east elevation is largely obscured by the neighbouring No. 9 abutting it. The return is detailed as the rear elevation. At ground floor, one timber casement window appears at the right (north) end, with the rest obscured by the flat-roofed extension; two replacement timber sliding sashes with 1/1 panes are offset to the left at first floor. The gable end of the two-storey duo-pitched building is blank red brick with clipped eaves, abutted by a lean-to and outbuildings aligned to the north boundary wall within the yard.

The boundary treatment includes a red brick wall in English Garden Wall bond with rounded terracotta cap dividing the yard from No. 9 (raised in part along the line of the flat-roofed extension) and returning along the north boundary; chamfered blue brick on a rubble-stone base runs along this wall, which joins the two-storey extension. A lean-to red brick outbuilding abuts the reverse side of the north boundary wall within the yard, aligned with the return. A similar red brick wall with terracotta cap aligns the west boundary with No. 11 at the rear yard.

Modern disabled access is provided by a ramp from the car park to the front door, constructed in smooth red brick with tubular steel uprights and handrails.