Transport House, 102 High Street, Belfast, Co Antrim, BT1 3ET

Transport House, 102 High Street, Belfast

Transport House is a freestanding, multi-storey modernist office building constructed between 1956 and 1959 for the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union. It was designed in the International Style by J.J. Brennan (d. 1966), a Belfast-based architect with offices on Royal Avenue, working with engineer W.R.P. Bowden. The building occupies a tight corner site at the junction of Victoria Street and High Street, immediately east of the city centre, with St George's Church opposite to the south and the Albert Memorial Clock to the east. No discernible alteration to the fabric of the building has been recorded since its completion.

Architectural Overview

The building is wedge-shaped on plan, of frame construction, and comprises two co-joined blocks — one of five storeys and one of seven — largely clad in green faience tiles. The structural frame is concealed, but the design makes full use of its possibilities in terms of light, height, and internal space, reflecting Corbusian ideals: the seven-storey block projects outward and is supported at its south end on pilotis, freeing the ground plane beneath. The roof is flat, edged in concrete coping, with a boiler house on the roof and aluminium rainwater downpipes. Metal-framed glazing is used throughout, with cast concrete cills detailed to each elevation.

Exterior

The principal south and east elevations are clad in green faience tiles set in red mortar, over a recessed white-tiled ground floor and a rock-faced granite plinth. The north elevation has a brown brick base beneath a cast concrete string course, with the upper storeys having concrete cladding panels with exposed aggregate, framed on either side by three vertical courses of green tiles. The west elevation is of brown brick throughout.

The principal south-facing elevation is split level. The narrower seven-storey block to the left has a slightly concave profile and is supported on two circular pilotis clad in black glazed tiles over a mosaic base. This block bears a full-height tiled mural in Russian Constructivist style depicting the industries of Ulster — specifically an aeroplane, construction cranes, a ship, a public transport bus, and a line of workers. The five-storey section to the right is lit at each floor by a panel of curtain glazing divided by full-height cast concrete mullions, with black apron panelling between floors. Applied lettering includes replacement lettering at the top reading "Unite the Union" and original lettering arranged vertically to the right reading "Transport House."

A concrete canopy is cantilevered over the main entrance, which takes the form of a recessed porch approached by three steps wrapping around the south-east corner of the building, supported on three further columns to the east. At the time of survey the porch was concealed by temporary boarding. The interior of the porch is clad in white glazed tiling and bears a black polished granite foundation plaque at the left cheek, inscribed as follows: "THIS STONE WAS LAID ON THE 25TH OCTOBER 1958 BY FRANK COUSINS ESQ. GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE AMALGAMATED TRANSPORT AND GENERAL WORKERS UNION IN THE PRESENCE OF THE RT. HON THE LORD MAYOR OF BELFAST ALDERMAN MAJOR WILLIAM CECIL MCKEE J.P. E.R.D. AND NORMAN KENNEDY ESQ. IRISH SECRETARY AT A.T.&G.W.U. AND A DISTINGUISHED GATHERING OF CIVIC AND UNION REPRESENTATIVES / CARVILLE & SONS LTD. CONTRACTORS / J.J.BRENNAN & W.R.P. BOWDEN, ARCHITECTS & ENGINEERS."

The projecting seven-storey section contains the stairwell, lit to the right cheek by a full-height glazed opening with staggered lights arranged in three vertical strips.

The west elevation mirrors similar detailing to its right side, which contains a stairwell light as on the opposite elevation, with a green-tiled wall to the extreme right terminating at an oblique angle. The southernmost section rises to seven storeys; the stairwell and top two storeys of the seven-storey section are tiled and contain services. Fenestration on this elevation is irregular, generally comprising wide horizontal windows at all levels. The remainder of the west elevation is of five storeys, with the top three storeys lit by a panel of curtain glazing as described above, and the first and ground floors having a series of windows divided by brick mullions. To the extreme left is a full-height stairwell light.

The north elevation is narrower and is lit at its centre by a single full-height glazed strip lighting the north stairwell.

The east elevation is dominated by a large curtain-walling panel, slightly recessed into the face of the wall with a narrow drip mould over, lighting the first to fourth floors, with full-height concrete mullions between lights. At ground floor level there is a porch at either end; between them, the ground floor is lit by a long horizontal glazed strip, each window having four lights divided by a concrete mullion. The porch at the left has been described with the south elevation; the porch to the right was also concealed by temporary boarding at the time of survey and is supported on a black-tiled column at the north-east corner.

Historical Context

The building was erected close to Belfast Docks — where the majority of trade entered the city and where the Belfast Dockers' Strike took place in 1907 — as the official headquarters of the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union (ATGWU). The ATGWU had originally been established in Britain in 1922 and at its height was the largest trade union in the world, with an approximate membership of 900,000.

The growth of trade unionism in Belfast had its roots in the rapid industrialisation of the Victorian period, when industries including linen, shipbuilding, rope-making, cotton, and tobacco manufacture expanded the city's skilled workforce. Growing inequality in working conditions led to the formation of the city's first trade unions, and in 1881 the Belfast United Trades' Council was established to protect workers' rights.

Transport House was designed by J.J. Brennan, who later designed offices for the Amalgamated Engineering Union on Antrim Road (1964) and was responsible for a number of Roman Catholic churches and public elementary schools in Belfast. The contractors were Carville and Sons Ltd. The building has been described by architectural historian Paul Larmour as "a dramatic working of International style themes but sombre and heavy in feel. Entirely clad in tilework, mostly green, with curved end wall sailing out on black pilotis or pillars."

In 2007, following the takeover of the premises by Unite the Union — Britain's largest trade union — the signage at the top of the building, formerly reading "T.G.W.U.", was replaced with the current "Unite the Union" together with the union's red-flag insignia. At the time of the survey, the building was vacant, with the ground floor and entrances boarded up, though the building remained in generally good repair overall. Transport House was first listed in 1994.

The listing covers the building and its railings.