Mersey Street Primary School, 78 Mersey Street, Belfast, Co. Antrim, BT4 1EY

Mersey Street Primary School

A single-storey with attic neo-Georgian school building erected in 1927 to designs by Reginald S. Wilshere, Architect to the Belfast Education Committee. The building has a quadrangular plan form facing south with projecting canted corner bays. A six-bay return extends to the north wing to the centre of an open quadrangle, where an octagonal assembly hall is positioned. The school is set back slightly from the footpath on the north side of Mersey Street and directly east of Redcliffe Street within its own grounds, which are enclosed by replacement metal railings supported by a low brick wall spanning between square brick piers.

The building is constructed of red brick laid in stretcher bond with cement pointing and reconstituted stone plinth, cill and frieze courses. It has a hipped natural slate roof with black clay ridge tiles and a single square-section red brick chimney rising above the ridgeline to the rear of the south elevation. Replacement timber fascia and boarded soffit run throughout, with replacement cast metal rain water goods with ogee guttering discharging to circular section downpipes.

The principal south elevation is symmetrical, featuring a three-bay entrance breakfront flanked by three bays of square-headed windows arranged in threes. Projecting canted bays occupy the outer corners of this elevation. The corner bays have flat roofs set behind parapets with reconstituted stone coping on brick soldier courses and moulded concrete panels set flush with the windows. The narrowly advanced entrance breakfront has a parapet wall rising to reconstituted stone coping. The main central door case comprises a square-headed opening with reconstituted stone architrave and applied steel lettering reading 'THE SCHOOL 78'. A replacement timber door with side and fanlight is recessed behind original double leaf painted metal gates. The door is surmounted by a reconstituted stone cartouche and flanked by multi-pane timber windows with two-pane top-hung casements and soldier courses to the heads.

The west elevation contains a nine-bay main block plus canted bays, each having full-height brick pilasters between paired timber casement windows arranged in threes. The first and last bays narrowly project and provide separate 'BOYS' and 'GIRLS' entrances, denoted by applied steel lettering to reconstituted stone architrave heads and projecting hood moulds above. Doors are replacement timber square-headed examples with sidelights and square-headed fanlights recessed behind painted metal gates. A projecting canted bay to the south and a smaller canted bay to the north each have only one double window facing west.

The north elevation contains multiple bays with a central bay displaying a group of three windows, flanked by narrowly projecting single bays with single casement windows. Shallow projections also occur at the third bay, each having single windows. All other bays have paired windows. A canted corner bay occupies the west side.

The east elevation comprises twelve bays with a projecting canted section at the south corner. The first bay from the south houses the 'GIRLS' entrance and the fourth bay from the north houses the 'BOYS' entrance, denoted by applied steel lettering to the heads of reconstituted stone door architraves set between raised and fielded square panels at the outermost edges. Principal bays have full-height brick pilasters and timber casement paired windows arranged in threes.

Access to the quadrangle is primarily through the 'BOYS' and 'GIRLS' doors at east and west, leading through vestibules to the open-air quadrangle. A rectangular single-storey seven-bay block projects from the centre of the south wing to the centre of the quadrangle, where an octagonal plan assembly hall is centred on plan. This projecting block has a roof lantern to the first bay from the south wing. The octagonal hall has Flemish bond red brick walling with plain clasping pilasters, banded reconstituted stone plinth and dado courses. All but the north face are pierced by a single rounded arch doorway formed in gauged brick with keystone and stops, housing a square-headed timber door with sidelights and fanlight. The hall has a hipped natural slate roof with projecting eaves set on soldier course brickwork.

In 2011 the building was renovated and converted into twenty-three two-storey apartments by Connolly & Fee. The original floors, windows, doors and internal finishes were replaced. The internal elevations to all wings are now divided into separate apartments generally featuring tripartite timber casement windows to ground floor level and horizontal six-light casement windows to attic level with conservation skylights to the lower edge of the roof. Timber doors with offset vision panels and sidelights provide access to individual units. A flat-roofed covered walkway with alternating vertical timber boarding and painted rendered panels flanks entrances to individual apartments, replacing the original cloister. Each apartment has private defensible space with a variety of paving slabs and decking interspersed with lawn. The quadrangle is formally laid out with intersecting pathways dividing lawned areas and tree planting.

The school's setting fronts Mersey Street to the south. A dwarf red brick wall to the site boundary with concrete coping and steel railings set between square-section red brick pillars encloses the grounds. The area between the dwarf wall and school is lawned with some established trees. Tarmaced parking bays occupy the east and west sides where railings abut the building.