State Buildings, 16-22 Arthur Street, Belfast, Co Antrim, BT1 4GD

Attached symmetrical multi-bay five-storey red brick and faience office building, built in 1902, to the designs of Graeme Watt and Tulloch with a shallow loggia to the top floor and replacement timber shopfronts inserted to the ground floor. Gutted or rebuilt behind retained facades c.1985 and extended to the rear to the designs of Building Design Partnership with a south facing side elevation emulating the original design and fronting onto Arthur Place. Pie-ended slate roof with moulded guttering and modillions to overhanging eaves. Machine-made red brick walling laid in Flemish bond with flush faience quoins, faience frieze and cornice over the third floor. Square-headed window openings with flush interlocking faience lintels, stone sills and fixed-pane bipartite metal windows with leaded overlights. Symmetrical west front elevation is nine windows wide with advanced end bays and a recessed loggia-type colonnaded top floor. The top floor is set behind a parapet wall with moulded stone coping and paired fluted Ionic faience columns supporting the eaves. Round-headed windows to the top floor with rendered archivolts and continuous impost mouldings, arranged in a group of three to the centre and paired to either side. The advanced end bays have three-sided canted timber windows with leaded glazing flanked by Ionic columns and panelled faience pilasters resting on a balustrade faience parapet. The windows to the first, second and third floors on the advanced bays are tripartite with moulded faience surrounds including sills, transoms and mullions. Windows to the remainder of the front elevation are arranged in groups of three to the centre, paired to either side with a tripartite timber oriel window to the first floor having bowed sidelights, timber frieze and dentilled lead-lined cornice. Replacement timber shopfronts span the entire ground floor with full-span fascia and lead-lined cornice. North side elevation abutted by adjoining building Arthur Chambers (No.6-16). Rear elevation abutted by five-storey red brick extension, built c.1985, in a similar style to the main block. South side elevation is three windows wide with the advanced end bay returning onto the left of the elevation and detailed as per front elevation. Setting: Corner-sited with the front elevation facing west onto Arthur Street and the south side elevation fronting onto Arthur Place. Roof : Pie-ended slate RWG: Replacement moulded steel Walling: Machine-made red brick / faience Windows: Original bipartite fixed-pane metal and leaded overlights