18 College Green, Belfast

18 College Green, Belfast

A three-storey red brick terraced house built between 1866 and 1878, facing south on College Green to the north-east of the main quadrangle at Queen's University, Belfast. It is part of a significant Victorian terrace of houses numbered 2 to 26 inclusive, which overlooks the Theological College of the Presbyterian Church. The house now serves as part of Queen's University's School of Social Science, Education and Social Work, internally connected with neighbouring properties numbered 12 to 24 (number 16 is absent).

The building is constructed of red brick with painted masonry dressings and has a natural slate duo-pitched roof with black clay ridge tiles. Two rectangular red brick chimneys sit centred on the ridge, each topped with corbelled brick copings and several octagonal yellow clay pots; one chimney is shared with number 14 and the other with number 20 College Gardens. The cast metal guttering and rainwater pipes are replacements, comprising an ogee gutter on the south elevation, half-round gutter on the north, and circular rainwater pipes.

The south elevation serves as the principal façade and is asymmetrical, with the entrance positioned to the left and a single-storey canted bay at ground floor to the right. The entire ground floor is rendered and painted, terminating in a square-edged string course running between the first floor window cills. A deep moulded plinth, painted in contrasting colour, runs across the ground floor. The entrance comprises a timber-framed four-panelled replacement door with plain glass segmental arched over-light, set within a projecting door case with stop-chamfered head and jamb reveals. Above the door sits a cornice hood decorated with waterleaf and dart moulding, though this detail is partially obscured by multiple paint layers. All ground floor openings feature stop-chamfered reveals. The windows at the canted bay are replacement single-glazed double-hung sliding sashes. Above this, segmental arched windows appear at both first and second floors, diminishing in height. The first floor windows have moulded surrounds topped with ornamental decoration. The second floor windows feature matching moulded surrounds with corbel brackets below projecting cills. Heavy overhanging eaves are supported on corbelled yellow brick 'specials' alternating with three courses of angled yellow brick, terminating in a corbelled stone kneeler with 'club' motif at the western gable end. All remaining windows are single-glazed timber-framed sliding sashes with 1/1 panes. The leaded roof section covers the canted bay at ground floor.

The west and east elevations are abutted by number 14 and number 20 College Green respectively, with the original return removed from the east side.

The north (rear) elevation is almost entirely rebuilt following the removal of the original return around 2004, when a two-storey gabled extension was added and shared with number 20. One full-height bay remains on the right side of the extension, containing a sliding sash window at each floor. The walling is largely salvaged red brick laid in English Garden Wall bond, with soldier-coursed headers to openings set on galvanised steel lintels. Single-course corbelled brick eaves in header bond run along the top. The three sliding sash windows in this retained bay are sympathetically replaced and fitted with Georgian-wired glass, with cut stone cills that appear to be salvaged from the original building. Above the gabled extension, a projecting brick nib corbels out at second floor level, covered with lead flashing at eaves level—possibly a remnant from the original return or a former chimney. To the left of this corbelled brick sits an additional sliding sash window.

The north-facing walls are laid in red brick in English Garden Wall bond, though much of this section has been substantially rebuilt. The southern elevation uses red brick in Flemish bond.

The property is set midway along College Green, which runs between Botanic Avenue to the west and Rugby Road to the east. The boundary to the south is lined with concrete dwarf walling and modern metal railings matching adjacent properties. A small front garden with gravelled surface and large reconstituted stone paving slabs leads to a graded front path. The rear yard is bounded by a replacement red brick wall with brick-on-edge coping matching the gabled extensions of adjoining properties. This yard provides shared amenity space for numbers 12, 14 and 18, and comprises ramped paths leading to a ground floor terrace, planted beds with red brick retaining walls topped by modern metal handrails and uprights painted to match.