Pavilion, Downey House School, 9 Pirrie Pk Gardens, Belfast, County Antrim, BT6 0AG

Pavilion at Downey House School

A symmetrical detached single-storey pavilion built around 1957, constructed in redbrick with rendered sections. The building is irregularly planned and faces north on an elevated site overlooking the rugby pitch. It is positioned to the east of the school grounds, with a matching pavilion located to the west adjacent to the school building itself.

The pavilion employs the horizontal massing characteristic of the modernist movement. It features flat felt-lined concrete roofs with steel guttering and downpipes throughout. The walling is stretcher bond redbrick with square-headed window openings fitted with steel swivel windows and concrete sills.

The north-facing front elevation is the principal façade, comprising a central block with flint-dash rendered walling and a smooth render plinth course. This is abutted by a lower portico that opens onto a concrete platform and steps. The central block has a series of paired steel windows below a concrete overhang, flanked by diminutive square-headed window openings with concrete surrounds and steel swivel windows. The portico has four concrete columns supporting a full-span lintel, with a single central door opening fitted with a sheeted timber door. Timber benches flank either side of this entrance. Both end bays feature later redbrick infill with door openings fitted with sheeted timber doors.

The east and west side elevations are constructed in redbrick with a raised horizontal series of steel swivel windows set in concrete surrounds. The rear elevation is abutted by a lower section with a central two-storey block above. Above the flat concrete roof of the lower section, a series of windows to the central block is visible. The redbrick walling extends across the entire elevation beneath an overhanging concrete flat roof with windows below. A series of three square-headed windows serves the side elevation of the lower block. The two-storey block has a square-headed door opening to each level, both fitted with sheeted timber doors.

The pavilion was built as part of an extensive building programme undertaken in the 1950s under the headship of A.H.R. Ball. Two new pavilions were constructed to serve as changing-rooms for games: one for boys' rugby and one for girls' hockey, which were formally opened in 1957. The architect was likely Valentine Smyth of the practice Smyth & Cowser, who had designed other new buildings for the school opened in 1954.

The building is set within the extensive grounds of Downey House School to the south of Pirrie Park Gardens, accessed via a long avenue. The school is surrounded by extensive lawned play and pitch areas with some mature trees. To the northeast stands a two-storey rendered ground-keeper's house built around 1933 in a similar style to the school. To the southeast is a modern single-storey redbrick block built around 2010.

The pavilions are first recorded on Ordnance Survey map editions from the 1960s-70s. This building is recorded for historical interest but does not meet the criteria for listing.