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

Downey House School is a symmetrical detached two-storey rendered building constructed around 1933, with single-storey flat-roofed extensions added to the south and west around 1960. The building is located at 9 Pirrie Park Gardens, Belfast, set within its own extensive grounds to the south of Pirrie Park Gardens and accessed via a long avenue.

The original building is H-shaped in plan, facing north. It features a hipped terracotta tiled roof with terracotta ridge tiles and timber louvred dormers to both front and rear pitches, containing a clock. Two red brick chimneystacks are positioned on the east side elevation, with a central wall-head dormer above. Cast-iron guttering runs to overhanging boarded eaves with exposed rafter feet, complemented by decorative cast-iron hoppers and cast-iron downpipes with decorative iron brackets.

The external walls are rendered rough-cast painted finish with a red brick plinth course. The square-headed window openings originally contained timber casement windows, though most have been replaced with modern uPVC or timber casement windows and plastic sills. An original 18-pane timber casement window survives on the ground floor of the west projection. A pair of large timber fixed-pane staircase hall windows with timber sills are retained on the west projection.

The symmetrical front elevation features advanced two-storey sections to either end, with a lean-to glazed timber-frame entrance hall spanning the space between. The symmetrical east side elevation has a central wall-head dormer with a segmental-headed window. This elevation is abutted by a steel fire escape. The south rear elevation is abutted by the flat-roofed single-storey extension. The west side elevation mirrors the east elevation and is abutted by a flat-roofed extension connected to a large red brick single-storey wing, also built around 1960.

The building stands within extensive grounds containing lawned play and pitch areas with some mature trees. To the northeast is 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 red brick block constructed around 2010.

The school has lost most of its original character through replacement fenestration and cumulative alterations, and does not meet the criteria for listing.