Former Ross Mineral Water Works, 17-19 William Street South & 1-7 Montgomery Street, Belfast, County Antrim, BT1 3BW

Former Ross Mineral Water Works, 17–19 William Street South and 1–7 Montgomery Street, Belfast

This is a prominent group of red brick buildings constructed in the Art Nouveau style around 1900 to designs by the architectural practice of Graeme Watt and Tulloch, built as warehousing, offices and a factory for Ross's Mineral Waters — a significant industry in late Victorian and Edwardian Belfast. Although the buildings have been compromised by modern alterations, a substantial amount of historic fabric and detailing survives, and the eclectic composition is unusual. The group represents the ongoing development of industry and commerce in the city centre and is also a good example of the work of a notable architectural practice.

Background and Development

The premises at 17–19 William Street South and 1–7 Montgomery Street were the former home of William A. Ross & Co. Ltd, a mineral water manufacturer that produced soft drinks from this site for almost a century. The company originally traded under the name "The Royal Belfast Ginger Ale, Mineral & Aerated Water, and Cordial Manufactory." Ross's speciality was ginger ale, but a wide range of other products was also made here, including soda water, lemonade, potash water, seltzer, sarsaparilla, Lithia, Vichy water, aromatic bitters and cola. The factory occupied an area of 14,000 square feet. Ross utilised wells on the site, one of which was sunk to a depth of 420 feet to ensure purity of water. The company was considered one of the chief mineral water manufacturers in Ulster and the principal rival to Cantrell & Cochrane, founded in the 1850s.

The buildings were constructed in several phases. Ross came into possession of the site in 1879 and initially converted an earlier building — previously used as a shop and stabling yard, valued at £90 — into a mineral water factory. Finding that building inadequate for his expanding business, he contracted architect Robert Graeme Watt in 1883 to construct a larger warehouse at 1–7 Montgomery Street. This three-storey brick and red Dumfries stone warehouse was the earliest substantial phase of the complex. The Dictionary of Irish Architects notes that Watt had a particular interest in Elizabethan architecture, which found expression in the Tudoresque Dutch gable and oriel window at the corner of William Street South and Montgomery Street, also built in 1883. Upon completion, the rateable value of the factory rose to £270. Watt designed this early phase independently, prior to forming his partnership with Frederick H. Tulloch in 1895.

The factory's rateable value remained unchanged until the 1900 Belfast Revaluation, when it rose to £390. The valuer attributed this increase to renovation work Ross had carried out in 1897, on which he had spent over £1,550. At that time the factory contained a gas-powered engine and Ross paid £210 per annum in rent. By 1901, the Belfast Street Directory described William A. Ross & Co. Ltd as "Ginger Ale, Aerated and Mineral Water Makers."

In 1902, Ross again engaged Watt — now operating as Watt and Tulloch — to extend the factory along William Street South with the addition of a three-storey English Renaissance style warehouse incorporating square turrets with domes. This extension required the demolition of the original properties on the William Street South frontage. The construction work was carried out by McLaughlin and Harvey, who also built warehouses for Ross's rivals, Messrs Grattan & Co. and Lyle and Kinahan. The rateable value rose again in 1903 to £460. In 1909, additional offices were constructed to the rear of the building by Belfast-based builder Robert Corry, bringing the value to £510, at which it remained when the Annual Revisions were cancelled in 1930. The First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland in 1935 raised the value further to £840. The factory fortunately escaped damage during the Belfast Blitz of 1941, which affected surrounding premises. By the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956–72), the rateable value stood at £2,700.

The mineral water company was eventually forced to close in the 1970s due to a decline in demand, after which the factory lay vacant for a number of years. The building was listed in 1988 whilst still empty. In 1990–91 it was renovated by the architectural firms Ostick and Williams and Ferguson and Wheeler on behalf of property developers Ewart plc. (now William Ewart Properties Ltd.), converting the former factory into retail premises.

Architectural Description

The complex comprises three distinct sections facing William Street South, linked together, with the warehouse range behind on Montgomery Street.

The central portion on William Street South is two storeys and three bays, set slightly forward from the flanking sections. It is distinguished by a prominent oriel window at first floor level, spanning the full width of the central bay with five lights, while the outer bays have windows set beneath parapets pierced by small arched openings flanking the central gable. At ground floor, the central bay has a generous round-headed window — possibly a former entrance — flanked by round-headed recesses in the outer bays. The slated roof is set behind a Dutch gable with a semicircular head and convex shoulders, built in red brick with a coloured coat of arms beneath an integral broken pediment. This section is linked to the factory portion by a plinth.

To the right on William Street South is the office block, three storeys and six bays. The ground floor has been rendered and given modern shopfronts, and is topped with a carved stone fascia inscribed "WA ROSS AND SONS," rising to turrets and a gable above cornice level. The outer bays and two central bays are slightly advanced. The roof is covered in Bangor Blue slates with tall corbelled red brick chimneys. At attic level, the central bays rise to form a brick Dutch gable with a small semicircular pediment perched on top and stone skews. The outer bays rise to form square red sandstone turrets, each with four squat bulging columns on each elevation (square at the corners), a moulded cornice, and a square ogee lead roof with a finial. Second-floor windows are rectangular: the outer bays have 1-over-1 casement windows and the central bays have tripartite mullioned windows. The first floor is similar, but with the inner windows basket-headed. There are substantial moulded cornices above the ground floor and the second floor.

To the left is the factory portion, which is relatively plain by comparison: three storeys of red brick with a rendered plinth. The ground-floor windows are segmental-headed and now blocked up. Above, the bays have paired double-hung sash windows — 6-over-12 panes at first floor and 6-over-9 panes at second floor — recessed at upper levels to create paired pilasters separating the bays. A deep eaves cornice is corbelled out over the second floor, with six brick gables each pierced by 12-pane oculi set in stone surrounds at the outer and four inner bays. The roof is Bangor Blue slate, with iron crestings carrying ornamental lettering reading "ROSS'S" and scrolled finials.

Materials and Construction

Walls are of brick and sandstone. The roof is natural slate. Windows are timber. Rainwater goods are cast iron.

Setting

This is a substantial group of buildings prominently located at the entrance to a contemporary shopping mall, close to the Mayfair Buildings and the Masonic Hall.