International Research Centre for Experimental Physics, Queen's University Belfast, University Road, Belfast, BT7 1NN

The International Research Centre for Experimental Physics (IRCEP) at Queen's University Belfast is a large brick building in a modern style with neo-Georgian elements, designed by the noted local architect John MacGeagh. Designed in 1955 and constructed between 1958 and 1962, it consists of flat-roofed interlocking three-dimensional blocks of varying heights with a tall, canted entrance tower. It was officially opened by the Queen Mother on 6th April 1962 and continues in use as part of the School of Mathematics and Physics at Queen's University.

Historical Background

Queen's College, Belfast was founded in 1845, one of three new Queen's Colleges established to extend university education in Ireland on a non-sectarian basis. The college was linked with those at Cork and Galway as the Queen's University in Ireland from 1850. Almost from its founding, Queen's faced recurring accommodation pressures as student numbers grew steadily from the 90 matriculated students of 1849. After a medical block, library, gymnasium and engineering classroom were added in the 1860s and 1870s, no further building took place until the end of that century, when laboratories and a students' union were added. Queen's was raised to the status of an independent university in 1908, bringing increased income and a building programme that included the construction of a physics block — now known as the Old Physics Building — designed by William Henry Lynn, who won the competition at the age of 82. Built by Laverty and Sons of Belfast at a cost of £31,361, this block was constructed behind what is now the Lanyon Building, forming the south-eastern side of the quadrangle, and physics moved in during 1913. Physical sciences had previously been categorised under the Professorship of Natural Philosophy; the title Professor of Physics was introduced in 1909, William Blair Morton being its first holder.

The site now occupied by the new physics building was vacant until the First World War, when the land was appropriated for a military hospital. In November 1914 the Ulster Volunteer Force offered to provide a hospital in Belfast, initially established in the Exhibition Hall in Botanic Gardens, but extended onto adjacent university land in 1915 and again in 1917, both extensions to designs by R J Calwell. The hospital treated soldiers from the fronts in France, Belgium, Gallipoli, Salonica and the Middle East, and contained a workshop manufacturing artificial limbs. After the war, the wooden buildings continued in use as a military hospital until 1926, then served the university until they were completely demolished in 1955 in preparation for the new physics building.

By the 1920s student numbers had reached 1,000, placing further pressure on accommodation. With partition in 1921 came hopes of increased resources, but the university remained underfunded relative to comparable British institutions. In the late 1930s the university senate and academic council began drawing up an expansion programme, which was suspended during the Second World War — work on the Whitla Hall paused in the early 1940s. In 1942, anticipating a post-war rise in student numbers, the buildings committee developed a detailed plan for the development of the site, including acquisition of a quarter of an acre from Botanic Gardens, completed after protracted negotiation in 1948. A plan to build a chemistry building on the site was later dropped in favour of physics, partly reflecting the dramatically increased prominence of physics as a discipline following the war.

Physics was seen to have played a huge part in winning the Second World War — sometimes called "the physicists' war" in contrast to the First World War's "chemists' war". British academic physicists made a significant contribution to the development of the atom bomb, and radar and radio, vital to wartime communications, also required physics-trained personnel. With the development of peacetime nuclear and atomic science — including nuclear power, radiation therapy and the Cold War arms race — training a new generation of physicists was seen as a national priority. The UK government had recognised towards the end of the war the importance of the physicist in both war and peace and the need to increase physics teaching provision. A new Chair of Mathematical Physics was created at Queen's in 1945, new courses in physics were introduced in 1947, and academic staff across the university were enlarged by 90% during the 1950s.

The post-war period brought greatly increased government grant funding and private donations, allowing the university to enter a period of almost continuous growth. This took place largely during the Vice-Chancellorships of Sir David Keir (1939–49) and Sir Eric Ashby (1950–59), both commemorated in built structures at Queen's completed in the 1950s and 1960s. Sir David Keir outlined in 1948 the university's duty to contribute to post-war reconstruction by substantially increasing student numbers, particularly calling for a 100% increase in the output of graduates from the scientific schools. The first major building completed in the post-war period was the Whitla Hall, whose designs by John MacGeagh and Edward Maufe had been approved in 1936 following a legacy left by Sir William Whitla, former Professor of Materia Medica. The opening of the Whitla Hall in 1949 marked the beginning of a programme of large-scale building lasting two decades. Between 1950 and 1962, the university added 425,000 square feet to its estate, considerably more than doubling its size. A combined science and technology centre, the David Keir Building, originally intended to house engineering, chemistry and physics, opened in 1959; in 1954 it was decided that this building should house engineering and chemistry alone, and that a separate building was required for physics.

By the late 1930s the physics department had attracted a number of highly talented staff who were to make important contributions to the physical sciences, among them Harry Massie, Samuel Francis Boys, James Hamilton, Paul Peter Ewald and Richard Buckingham. Most of this cohort dispersed during the 1940s to carry out war work and did not return. Two strong personalities did remain and took an active part in supervising construction of the new building: Professor Karl George Emeléus (1901–1989) and Dr Robert Harbinson Sloane, Reader in Physics.

Karl George Emeléus, a London-born experimental physicist, was appointed lecturer at Queen's in 1927 and remained there until his retirement in 1966 — from 1933 as the second Professor of Physics to be appointed at Queen's, and ultimately as Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science and Technology. A world authority on the conduction of electricity through fields of ionised gases or plasmas, he was widely admired as an outstanding lecturer. His students included John Stewart Bell and David Robert Bates, both of whom came close to being awarded the Nobel Prize in their different fields. Among Emeléus's many honours were CBE, Fellowship of the Institute of Physics, membership of the Royal Irish Academy, Fellowship of the American Physical Society, numerous honorary degrees, and appointment to the government's Radioactive Substances Advisory Committee. A lecture theatre in the Old Physics Building bears his name. Dr Robert Harbinson Sloane (born 1911), Reader in Physics — a position created following the bequest of Queen's benefactor Henry Musgrave (died 1922) — was an under-recognised researcher in the field of experimental conduction of electricity in gases at low pressures. It is Sloane's amendments that are noted on the drawings for the building, and Sloane in particular is said to have exerted "an enormous amount of effort persuading the architects of the needs of physicists and checking every detail of the work as it was performed." The guidance of both Emeléus and Sloane was acknowledged by John MacGeagh when the building was completed.

A shortage of scientists, particularly physicists, was a concern in the mid-1950s. It was proposed that Ulster could begin training scientists and technicians to accelerate the nuclear power programme for the United Kingdom. In 1955 the British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden had talks with Lord Brookeborough on this topic, from which it was expected that Queen's University would expand its physics department and establish a nuclear energy research and training department. The Vice-Chancellor Dr Eric Ashby supplied Sir Anthony Eden with a report on the output of physicists and scientists making clear that Northern Ireland was doing its part and that Queen's intended to expand its facilities. Lord Brookeborough welcomed the expansion of the physics department, speaking of the "great shortage" of physicists everywhere, particularly for careers in nuclear science.

John MacGeagh was asked to provide designs in 1954 and did so in 1955; a perspective painting of the design was exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1956, and was subsequently donated to HERoNI in 2023. However, building work did not proceed for some years. Some delay arose from the continual revision of requirements — attributed in part by Clarkson's history of Queen's to lecturers "continually changing their minds" — but there were also considerable technical difficulties. In April 1956, the Duke of Edinburgh was to have laid the foundation stone during a visit to the province but instead merely visited the physics department, as there were problems getting works started. The building is constructed upon compact sand, and when the site was being prepared it was found that the water table was above the intended level of the basement floors, necessitating extraction of water from the sand by a process of "de-watering" before the foundations could be laid. Some amendments were also made to keep the scheme within budget. Construction commenced in 1958 — local newspapers showed the steel framework under construction in June and September of that year — and completed in April 1962. The building was part of a wider post-war regeneration of Belfast, and the construction of the physics building alongside Transport House, the Electricity Board offices in Danesfort and several other substantial steel and concrete structures led the Belfast Telegraph to note that Belfast's "war scars" were healing.

The building cost, once equipped, was £814,000. The original design had to be changed to keep the cost within budget, and during construction a further £100,000 was saved on the original tender figure. Cost restrictions meant there were no "ornamental embellishments" as seen on the Whitla Hall, though it was hoped to one day add "a suitably placed contemporary sculpture."

It was during the post-war period that the physics department was attended by its most illustrious student, John Stewart Bell (1928–1990). Bell had worked as a laboratory technician in the physics department from the age of 16 and graduated in Experimental Physics in 1948. During his time at Queen's he identified defects in quantum theory, the addressing of which were to define his career. Bell left Belfast in 1949 and ultimately moved to CERN in Geneva, where he worked for 30 years until his death in 1990. In 1988 Queen's awarded him an honorary Doctor of Science for distinction as a theoretical physicist, Bell having originated "Bell's theorem", an exceptional contribution to quantum mechanics. It is believed he had been nominated for a Nobel Prize at the time of his death; the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to a group of physicists who worked on Bell inequalities and the experimental validation of Bell's theorem. Bell has been described by the Institute of Physics as one of the top ten physicists of the 20th century. A lecture theatre in the new physics building is named after him.

A noted graduate of physics at Queen's following construction of the new building was Sir David Bates (1916–1994), Fellow of the Royal Society and knighted in 1978 for his contributions to planetary and space science, who worked daily at Queen's until his death in 1994. Bates established the School of Theoretical Atomic and Molecular Physics at Queen's University Belfast in 1951 and is credited with driving the evolution of the department "into the world-renowned centre for theoretical atomic, molecular and optical physics that it became." The 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was given for work deriving directly from Bates's seminal papers.

The Architect

John MacGeagh has been praised by Paul Larmour in several retrospectives as a "perfectionist in brickwork" who, as one of the most respected figures in Ulster architecture, left Northern Ireland a "fine legacy." He is remembered for "thoroughness of design and attention to detail" and for the neo-Georgian idiom in which he often designed. The Whitla Hall, designed with Edward Maufe, is perhaps his most celebrated work. He was also responsible for several other buildings at Queen's University, including the School of Geology and the main library tower (now remodelled), as well as more minor structures such as the tower and archway on the north side of the quadrangle. MacGeagh is also well known as the designer of the north and south transepts of St Anne's Cathedral and several noted churches and church halls.

Architecture and Construction

The building was well received in local and architectural press, most commentary relating to the harmonious relationship of the new building to the existing structures on the site. The Whitla Hall and the physics building were said to "blend very well with the Victorian Tudor of the original Queen's College building which they adjoin. They belong to their own time but they do not put the older building right out of countenance and that is good practice in architecture." A favourable description in the Irish Builder commented on the building's "sculptural form" and noted that "the contrast offered to the perpendicular Gothic of the main building is complete, but in proportions and material finish there is kinship. The new building sits comfortably and has been made to recede quietly, leaving the parent building still the dominant and central feature."

The 75,000 square foot building (original size) has a steel frame encased in concrete, with reinforced concrete floors, roofs, foundations and retaining walls. The wall infilling is of brick cavity construction, giving walls of almost two feet in thickness. The facing bricks are hand-made and sand-faced rustic bricks, laid in English garden wall bond. Clipsham stone from Lincolnshire is used for door and window surrounds, and reconstituted stone for copings — a similar palette of materials to that used on the adjacent Whitla Hall. Roof finishes are flat roofing membranes with parapet walls. Rainwater goods consist of cast iron downpipes and hoppers and painted metal downpipes and hoppers. Interiors were originally decorated in grey with sapphire, red and white details.

The consulting engineers were Oscar Faber and Partners of St Albans. Many local suppliers were used, including: F B McKee of Shore Road, Belfast (main contractors); Harland and Wolff (structural steelwork); G W Haden and Sons of Linenhall Street (heating and ventilation systems); S McGladery and Sons of Limestone Road (clay common bricks); J P Corry (timber); and Crittall-McKinney of Monarch Parade, Belfast (purpose-made metal windows, since replaced).

The building consists of three main elements: a long east–west block (Block A); a north–south block at the Whitla Hall end (Block B); and a two-storey lecture theatre at the south-east end of the north–south block (Block C). A large modern extension now infills the former three-sided void between the blocks at the rear.

North Elevation (Front)

The long north-facing façade is aligned approximately east–west and is composed of several elements, all with parapet walls onto flat roofs. Reading from left to right: a two-storey block with curved walls and the first floor level set back from the main façade; a four-storey canted entrance tower; and a long three-storey block to the right with a fourth storey set back from the main façade, which continues past the end of the three-storey section at the west end. A further storey is set back from the tower roof, with a similar element on the right side giving access to the roof. The lower ground floor level is semi-exposed from the pedestrian walkway, with walls, railings and steps leading down to a walkway at lower level.

From left to right the north elevation reads: a narrow two-storey bay with central double doors at lower ground floor level and a large window opening above within a stone surround, with panelled stone infill between storeys; walls narrow slightly on the upper level with chamfered stone at the edges; a two-storey curved section with no openings; a two-storey section with six large window openings on both lower ground and ground floor levels, with a further storey set back from the main façade containing three large window openings and an advanced section of blank walling.

To the right, the four-storey canted entrance bay has its entrance on the north face with a tall planar glazed window above. Similar tall windows appear on the east and west canted faces, rising from ground floor level. Advanced plain square brick panels appear on each face above the windows. All corners are chamfered from lower ground level to roof. The main entrance is flanked by tall plain modern painted rendered engaged columns, with level access. A continuous plain stone string course runs at the height of the lower ground floor head and at floor level between the lower ground and ground floor levels. A fifth storey set back above the tower has a single window opening on the north face and a door opening on the north face at the rear of the tower. The right side of the tower is drained by square cast iron downpipes and decorative cast iron hoppers; the left side has circular section painted metal downpipes with rectangular painted metal hoppers. Reproduction pendant lights are attached to the wall of the north façade.

To the right of the tower, the long three-storey block has a further storey set back from the main façade, with thirteen window openings at each level. A continuous string course runs at the cill level of the lower ground floor, with separate reconstituted stone cills. The window opening at the extreme right of the first floor has a projecting half-balcony of stone with square-framed openings (two rows of five) along the front — a former door opening now converted to a window. This entire panel on the first floor is recessed by half a brick. Plain stone lintels are used for the window openings at the set-back second floor level.

The lower ground floor level walkway has a concrete path between the front façade and a retaining wall, with concrete steps down and metal railings. The retaining walls and railings onto the pedestrian walkway are of rustic brick in Flemish bond with large reconstituted stone coping stones and metal railings above. A pedestrianised area runs along the north façade from east to west.

All windows are replacement aluminium multi-pane double-glazed units with Clipsham stone surrounds incorporating integrated cills, except the lower ground floor windows, which have plain reveals and an exposed reconstituted stone lintel. Planar glazing panels are used in the window openings of the tower. A blue engineering brick plinth appears at lower ground floor level, with a plain brick string course above the lower ground floor windows and slightly advanced brick piers between them.

East Elevation

The east face of the entrance tower is abutted by a three-storey block. The east elevation of this block has a bricked-up opening on the left side of the second floor level and one below on the first floor level with a stone surround and infilled opening. This is in turn abutted by a two-storey block that curves in plan towards the north, its curved wall having three window openings on each level. A tall square block rises above the entrance tower on the south-east side. At fifth floor level, set back on the roof of the tower, there are three high-level window openings with double timber doors between the first and second windows from the left. The modern extension is full five storeys high on the left side.

South Elevation (Rear)

The south face of the long east–west block (Block A) is abutted by a large modern three-storey extension built approximately 2006, which infills the inner corner formed by Blocks A and B. The rear elevation of Block A is exposed only at its extreme right. From left to right: a three-storey block with three window openings on ground and first floor levels — ground floor windows are multi-pane PVC, first floor aluminium, and the lower ground floor was not visible at time of survey. A lower two-storey block has three window openings on the ground floor level with top-hung metal windows; the lower ground floor level appears to be abutted by a flat-roofed single-storey extension not seen at the time of survey. Then the curving section has four window openings on both lower ground and ground floor levels, all four-pane aluminium with top-hung bottom panes. The south face of the entrance tower rises above the roof of the infill extension and has one small window opening at high level (type not seen at time of survey).

The south elevation of the north–south block (Block B) and the south elevation of the lecture theatre (Block C) face onto the boundary with Botanic Gardens, with the large infill extension to the right. Block B has a two-storey section (lower ground and ground floor levels) on its left side that wraps around the corner, linking the west elevation with the south. This block has the same four-pane aluminium windows as on the left side of the infill extension. Set back from this lower block is a narrow four-storey block with one window opening on each level using multi-pane aluminium windows, some with top-hung openings. To the right is the two-storey high lecture theatre (Block C). The south face of the lecture theatre has three large window openings with multi-pane aluminium windows, separated by V-shaped brick projections supporting a continuous reconstituted stone flat coping canopy. Small ventilation openings appear above each window with chamfered brick cills and terracotta ventilation bricks. Detail below the windows was not seen at time of survey. The right side of Block C is chamfered, built on an angle.

West Elevation

From left to right: the blank end façade of the east–west block (Block A); then the advanced end façade of the east–west three-storey block, with one opening on each level — the first floor window has the same half-balcony detail as on the extreme right side of Block A. The three-storey north–south block (Block B) has a semi-exposed lower ground floor from the pedestrian walkway, with a brick retaining wall, reconstituted stone coping and metal railings, and metal steps leading down to a walkway. The façade has multiple window openings similar to Block A. The set-back second floor level extends past the end of the two-storey section towards the south, again with multiple window openings. To the right is a low two-storey block (lower ground and ground floor levels) that wraps around the corner linking the west elevation with the south, with four window openings on the ground floor; the lower ground floor was not seen at time of survey. The east façade of the three-storey block (Block B) onto the flat roof of the lecture theatre (Block C) has a single opening to the right side at third floor level. A service road and car parking are located along the south boundary, with access onto University Road from the west side. A brick wall in Flemish bond with flat reconstituted coping stones and wide piers with metal railings runs along the south boundary with Botanic Gardens.

Special Features and Function

The building features a distinctive entrance tower. Towers were a traditional feature of academic physics laboratories in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the height facilitating experiments on pendula and free-falling bodies; Edinburgh University's physics building of 1907 is said to have been the last in Britain to incorporate such a tower. Both the old and new physics buildings at Queen's incorporate a tower structure, at least partly in deference to the architecture of the Lanyon Building. Plans were drawn up for a frictionless Foucault's pendulum to be suspended from a point above the entrance hall in the new entrance tower; when set in motion this would have demonstrated the rotation of the earth on a curved scale laid on the floor, observable from the surrounding curved staircase. However, this element of the design does not appear to have been implemented.

The building had several features unique to its specialist function. Delivery points equipped with cranes and hoists were provided to enable heavy equipment to be brought into the building. It was designed to be easily decontaminated from radioactive dust, with three distinct systems of mechanical ventilation. Electricity was supplied through a dual system drawing from different city mains, to preserve supply in the event of mains failure or repairs. Because of the nature of the research work, the floors were designed for heavy loads. Professor Emeléus commented that the building had been designed to be as versatile as possible and to have "good mechanical stability and floor strength and good mechanical services."

The main entrance is on the north front. A secondary entrance on the west front was intended for use by members of the public attending lectures in the lecture theatre. The building comprised laboratories in the main section, with a lecture theatre at one end and a single-storey workshop block adjoining a curved link between old and new buildings. The ground floor and basement contained a library, staff offices, research laboratories and the large lecture theatre, while upper floors contained a further small lecture theatre, teaching laboratories, dark rooms, battery rooms and a glass-blowing room. By September 1962 there were 3,784 students at Queen's. Professor Emeléus reported that there were 1,000 physics students at the university at the time, making it the largest department at Queen's, though many of these students studied physics as a component of another course.

Interior

The semi-circular cantilevered concrete staircase in the entrance tower is the main feature of interest internally.

Alterations

The original design of the building was modified to keep costs within budget, and further modifications during construction allowed a further £100,000 to be saved on the original tender figure.

In 2004–5 a new International Research Centre for Experimental Physics (IRCEP) was added to the physics building at a cost of £9 million. The extension was designed by Belfast-based architects RPP and their project partners Sheppard Robson, specialists in research laboratory projects and the fifth largest architectural practice in the UK at the time. A new 3,200 square metre four-storey structure was inserted into the rear courtyard, linked to the existing building by a "slot" atrium. Luxcrete floor panels were used to create glass lens floors as a reference to the building's 1950s and 1960s origins. As part of this scheme the entrance tower was remodelled, entailing the removal of original features including windows, porch and walling. The new centre was officially opened in June 2005.

In 2010–11, the curved link between old and new physics buildings, together with the attached workshop, were demolished to provide a through pedestrian walkway linking the McClay Library with the rest of the university precinct, following the restoration of Elmwood Hall. The east–west link was designed by Park Hood, landscape architects, to provide a strong visual connection between the new library as "the effective heart of the university" and other buildings within the precinct. A ramp alongside the Old Physics Building was constructed to maintain the connection between old and new physics buildings at first floor level. Consarc Conservation were appointed to carry out the repairs and alterations to both buildings made necessary by the demolition work. A new end elevation was constructed to the truncated curved wing of the physics building using salvaged brick and Portland stone dressings.

Windows to the main elevations have subsequently been replaced. Re-planning and refurbishment was carried out by Hamilton Architects approximately 2016, entailing some minor changes to the internal layout. An open balcony to the west of the north elevation was filled in at this time, and an observatory was added to the roof, concealed from view behind a parapet wall. Despite these changes, the building retains its noted sculptural quality, original fabric and detailing, and importantly its massing.

Setting

The building is located within the grounds of the main campus of Queen's University, to the immediate south of the south wing extension of the main Lanyon Building (the Old Physics Building). The entrances of both old and new physics buildings are aligned. The Sir William Whitla Hall, which opened in 1949 to designs by John MacGeagh, is to the immediate west, with the single-storey flat-roofed South Dining Hall between the two buildings. The glasshouses at the rear of the Palm House in Botanic Gardens back onto the south-east side of the site. A brick wall in Flemish bond with flat reconstituted coping stones and wide piers with metal railings runs along the south boundary with Botanic Gardens. The building continues in use as the physics department of Queen's University, now operating as the IRCEP within the School of Mathematics and Physics — a testament both to the versatility that Professor Emeléus identified at the time of construction in 1962, and to the harmonious quality of its architecture within the university setting.