Gospel Hall, Loopland Road, Belfast, Co.Antrim

Gospel Hall, Loopland Road, Belfast

A single-storey framed hall built in 1950, used as a Gospel Hall and situated within a primarily residential area of Loopland Road in the Loopland district of Belfast. The building serves as a meeting place for members of the Brethren religious movement.

The hall is a single bay structure orientated east to west, set within a small car park bounded on all sides by cast-iron railings with paired vehicular gates to the southern boundary. The roof is felted and pitched at different angles, with a bitumen-type covering to the main hall and corrugated fibre cement roofing panels to the foyer section. The exterior walls are primarily constructed of corrugated panels with timber framing and horizontal painted timber cladding between framed uprights. A brick plinth runs along the base of the main hall and gable wall.

The main (west) elevation features a recessed central entrance with a shallow concrete step from the car park. The entrance comprises a pair of timber doors, panelled and painted, with metal windows either side having obscure glass divided into six panes, each with one upper light with top-hung opening. The north elevation contains three painted timber windows with three panes over three panes, with upper sections top-hung, along the length of the foyer section. A projecting lean-to at the right-hand section has a shallow pitched roof with corrugated panels, vertically boarded timber sheet walls, and a pair of painted timber two-panel doors on its north face. The east elevation features a timber-boarded lean-to wall with a metal window matching the entrance design. The gable wall of the hall has a brick plinth and man-made panels, painted timber bargeboards and exposed rafter-ends, with a small square opening at high level framed in timber and faced with wire, with a fan behind. The south elevation mirrors the north with four painted timber windows along its length and corrugated panels to the foyer section walls. All windows throughout are fitted with make-shift timber and wire grilles. Rainwater goods are uPVC.

The Loopland area of Belfast, situated between the Cregagh and Castlereagh Roads, began development in the interwar period and expanded particularly from the early 1930s onwards, with streets comprising Loopland Road, Crescent, Drive, Park and Gardens. The Gospel Hall was built in 1950 as a new entry in the Valuation Book for a 'Meeting Room' leased by the Trustees of Loopland Road Meeting Room. The immediate lessor was George F. Greeves, a company director and member of the Brethren movement. In 1955, Margaret McCutcheon of 2 Deramore Avenue, Belfast, left a bequest to Alexander McKnight 'for the purposes of the hall at 46 Loopland Road, Belfast, used by the Brethren'. The simplicity of the building reflects the principles adopted by the Brethren for worship services. A sign at the front reads: 'If the Lord will the word of God will be preached here on the Lord's Day Evening at 5.30pm. You are invited to come.'