Congregational Church, 101-103 Donegal Street, Belfast, County Antrim, BT1 2FJ

Congregational Church, Donegall Street, Belfast

A symmetrical, double-height, largely free-standing congregational church executed in the Gothic-Revivalist style. The building was successively constructed and remodelled in stages from 1860 to 1952 by a number of architects. The main body is T-shaped on plan, with additional three-storey wings flanking each side of the primary façade. Extensive reconstruction was undertaken in 1932–34 by John Seeds and again around 1952 following bomb damage during World War Two. Nothing remains visible of the original church built around 1860 by Raffles Brown.

The pitched roof is concealed behind a parapetted gable on the primary elevation, surmounted by stepped proportions and a projecting decorative centrepiece. Half-round cast iron and uPVC rainwater goods are mounted on a projecting eaves course. The walling is uncoursed and square-cut ashlar sandstone (with limestone dressings to the central section) over a double projecting base. Openings feature Tudor arches with leaded windows and perpendicular-style tracery, with cusped heads to those on the ground floor. Doors are all replacement panelled timber.

The western primary elevation is dominated by a large stained-glass concentric rose window at centre, dating from around 1952, surmounted by a hood label terminating in foliated and stepped ends. The central section contains side windows vertically separated by pairs of mullions, with decorative panels providing horizontal division. The corners feature chamfered treatment with stepped limestone quoins; the ground floor is separated by a moulded string course, and advancing piers to the outer edges rise to points with cusped panelled inserts. A Tudor-arched doorcase at centre is flanked by twin-pane, cusp-headed windows with a continuous moulded cill course. The doorcase comprises a centralised Tudor-arched opening framed by outer pilasters extending to the string course above, with spandrels containing blind tracery. The arch itself contains nine cusped-headed lancet windows to the upper section, over a pair of double-leaf doors with Tudor-arched heads and decorative quatrefoils to the spandrels. Above the doors is a stone panel inscribed "DONEGALL STREET CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH".

The three-storey gable-fronted side-wings to north and south are symmetrical and executed in similar style and materials, likely dating from the late 19th century, each two openings wide. They have pitched slate roofs with gables breaking through the eaves. The walling is similar to the main façade but executed in darker yellow stone; windows are paired leaded lancets with pointed-arch mouldings over, enclosing quatrefoils. Windows and doors are flanked by foliated columns or pilasters which carry a continuous cornice. Two window openings appear on each upper floor, with two pointed-arched openings at ground floor containing squared doors and blind tracery to moulded heads above.

The north elevation is smooth rendered and painted. Two large windows occupy the upper floor to the right of centre, set in stepped stone architraves and separated by a full-height offset buttress; a similar pair to the left of centre comprises only the upper portion. Two smaller corresponding windows below on the right side are uPVC inserts with square heads, having reconstituted stone sills and plain architraves. To the left of centre, a two-storey flat-roofed block (the North transept) abuts the main elevation, containing two pointed-arched windows (smaller than those on the main elevation) over tripartite plain glass squared windows below. The ground floor is abutted by a mono-pitched extension with rendered walls and corrugated plastic roof. The right cheek contains a small flat-roofed porch with replacement multi-panelled square-headed doors to first and ground floors, each having plain glass pointed-arched transoms over. The left cheek is abutted by a rear extension. The far right is abutted by a side wing containing two pairs of staggered, vertically aligned windows above a pointed-arched passageway to the right; upper windows are pairs of squared metal casements with a common projecting cill, while left-side windows are pairs of cusped lancets framed by flat-arched stone architraves with hood moulds over.

The east (rear) elevation's view is largely obstructed by neighbouring buildings; the main elevation is blank and abutted by a pitched, lower chancel generally featuring uPVC squared window openings at each level (metal-framed to ground floor). To the right, a two-storey flat-roofed block extends northward, containing uPVC windows to its left and right cheeks; the ground floor of the left cheek is abutted to a neighbouring building with mono-pitched metal-framed glazing spanning the gap.

The south elevation is generally detailed as the north, with a ground floor block to the right side containing a pair of uPVC windows; a similar window appears to the right cheek, and the left cheek has a single door opening.

The church directly addresses the main street-line on the eastern side of Donegall Street within the busy urban environment of Belfast city centre. The compact site is enclosed by multi-storey modern office buildings, although a single-storey painted masonry wall borders the south-east. Outer doors on the main façade lead through rendered passageways into north and south yards. A concrete and metal dog-leg escape stair ascends from the north yard to a first-floor doorway in the north elevation. The north and south side-wings create the appearance of a terrace along Donegall Street; the Irish News Building is located a short distance to the north.