31-39 Royal Avenue, Belfast, County Antrim, BT1 1FD

31-39 Royal Avenue, Belfast

A four-storey six-bay red brick Italianate building with stucco detailing and attic dormers, built around 1882 to the designs of Young and Mackenzie. The building is narrow and rectangular in plan with a wider gabled section to the north and a curved bay at the far south, which embraces the junction with Rosemary Street.

The ground floor comprises modernised commercial units, with office and storage space above. The building is of frame construction with red brick walling laid to Flemish bond, accompanied by sandstone and stuccoed dressings and classical ornamentation. The pitched slate roof covers two northern bays with a narrower pitched slate roof to the south. A brick parapet sits on the west elevation with two plain rendered chimneys to the west side of the ridgeline. The parapet is punctuated by six wall-head stuccoed dormers, centred above each bay, with pitched slate roofs and pairs of diminutive round-arched windows with wavy pediments topped with ball finials. Replacement metal ogee rainwater goods are mounted on a heavily moulded and projecting cornice at the eaves.

The principal façade faces west and is five openings wide, largely symmetrical across the upper levels. Advancing brick piers separate each bay, rising from the first floor cill course through three storeys to carry the eaves cornice. The third floor windows are round-arched with enlarged keystones to moulded heads and are separated by brick pilasters. First and second floor windows are square-headed and framed by panelled pilasters with embellished capitals, supporting a deep cill course containing an array of swags, shields or foliated motifs. Windows throughout appear to be metal frame replacements, with pairs vertically arranged within each bay unless otherwise stated.

The ground floor contains several shop units with modern aluminium and glazed frontages. The far right unit is clad in porcelain panels as a modern addition, though some original polished granite pilasters remain visible. The north elevation is abutted by an adjoining terrace. The east (rear) elevation's view is largely obstructed by neighbouring buildings. The centre and left-side sections are blank and abutted by a two-storey commercial building fronting Rosemary Street. The north proportion projects and is two bays wide, with a south gable that is blank. The main elevation contains a single dormer to the attic, now converted into a doorway with modern fire-escape stairs attached, and a number of vertically aligned window openings to upper floors.

The south elevation comprises a single curved bay, detailed as the bays on the west elevation except the windows are blocked and the central shield over the first floor window contains '1882'. The remaining elevation views are obstructed by neighbouring buildings.

The building is located on the eastern side of Royal Avenue, with its principal elevation directly lining one of the main thoroughfares in the commercial centre of the city. The curved south bay embraces the pedestrianised Rosemary Street, but the height of the building presents a stark contrast to the two and three storey buildings which line this secondary street. The building visually dominates the junction, while its tall and narrow form provides an unusual focal point when viewed from the south on Royal Avenue. Nearby historic structures include the adjoining terrace to the north, Nos. 41-51 Royal Avenue, and Rosemary Street First Presbyterian Church a short distance to the east.