Chapel at Dominican College, 38 Fortwilliam Park, Belfast, Co. Antrim, BT15 4AQ

Chapel at Dominican College, 38 Fortwilliam Park, Belfast

This is a very good example of a modernist chapel dating from 1964 to designs by architect William Bready, constructed by P.F. Kerr of Belfast. It forms part of Dominican College, Fortwilliam, and sits within the college grounds on the north side of Fortwilliam Park, on a site that also includes the separately listed Walton House (listed under HB26/46/003A).

Architectural Overview

The chapel is a double-height modernist church with an unusual wedge-shaped plan form. The school oratory occupies the eastern end and the main chapel the western end. The most striking external feature is the sweeping curvilinear roof, finished in asphalt, whose form references the work of Le Corbusier at Ronchamp and the prominent Irish architect Liam McCormick. The walling is rough-cast render. A raised parapet runs to the apex of the south end, from which a metal cross projects. A marble plaque carved with the date of construction is set at low level on the exterior.

Two single-storey, flat-roofed curving corridors connect the chapel to the school building to the north, arranged so as to form a small internal courtyard between the north side of the chapel and the south wall of the school. The outer walls of these corridors are clad in painted timber sheeting, while the inner faces are fully glazed.

Elevations and Windows

The south-west elevation follows a shallow convex curve on plan and carries eleven full-height vertical strip windows of varying width. The south-east elevation is concave on plan and has ten full-height vertical strip windows of varying width. All windows are leaded stained glass with concrete cills and shallow recessed painted concrete panels below. The concrete roof overhangs deeply at the south end and meets the raised parapet there. A full-height stained glass window faces east at the point where the south-west elevation sweeps round to meet the south-east wall; the church was deliberately sited so that this large window in the apse would face the rising sun.

The east elevation consists of the blank east wall of the chapel at its southern end, with the east single-storey curved corridor to the north. The west elevation similarly comprises the west wall of the chapel at its southern end and the west single-storey corridor to the north. A single-storey projecting outshot to the chapel contains a square-headed double-leaf sheeted timber door, with a full-height vertical strip stained glass window to its north. The corridor has a square-headed opening with a metal door and three small rectangular windows at high level.

Interior

The interior has remained intact since construction. A series of impressive full-height, floor-to-ceiling stained glass windows by Daniel Braniff — a local glazier who also provided stained glass to the nearby Church of St. Thérèse of Lisieux (HB26/46/016) — portray the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary. The windows depicting the Glorious Mysteries are carried out in warm and bright colours on the east side of the church, facing the rising sun, while those depicting the Sorrowful Mysteries are rendered in mournful blues and purples on the west side, facing the setting sun. A printed history in the church explains that an overall device in the stained glass is the use of continuous bands of strong colours — reds and purples — calculated to make the eye travel along the windows to their most lightsome point, the Sanctuary.

The furnishings complement the clarity and elegance of the architect's design. The altar weighs over two tonnes and was carved from Carrara marble imported from Tuscany. The cross above the altar, bearing a figure of the victorious Christ with the four Evangelists illustrated on panels on the arms, was also designed by Daniel Braniff, as were the Stations of the Cross. The ambo is likewise of Carrara marble, with a metal stand decorated with a beaten bronze image of the eagle, the symbol of St John.

Historical Context

Dominican College occupies a site centred on Walton House, an Italianate sandstone former house constructed around 1865 that was home to a succession of prominent Belfast businessmen throughout its early history. The Irish Dominican Sisters acquired Walton House in 1930 and converted it into a convent school — reopening it that same year as a grammar school, preparatory school, and secretarial college — responding to what they saw as the apostolic challenge of providing secretarial training for young women in Belfast's rapidly growing commercial city. The Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1938 records that the school occupied the main body of Walton House with no additional school buildings at that time. Dominican College was valued at £290 under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland in 1936.

School attendance fell sharply during the Second World War as many children in north Belfast were evacuated from the city. Following the end of the conflict and the passing of the 1947 Education Act providing free secondary education for all, the school experienced a massive increase in applications, necessitating significant expansion. School blocks were added to the north side of Walton House in 1950 and 1953, and the chapel followed in 1964–66.

The chapel and the earlier college extensions were designed by Kilpatrick and Bready, a local architectural partnership formed between Edward Joseph Kilpatrick and William D. Bready in 1937. The firm operated until the 1970s and predominantly designed houses and schools in the Belfast suburbs. A history of the chapel held within the building indicates that the design was specifically the work of William Bready rather than Kilpatrick. The foundation stone was laid by the Bishop of Down and Connor on 9 September 1964. The chapel was dedicated to Our Lady of the Holy Rosary and opened in May 1966. The Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956–72) valued the chapel jointly with the adjoining school at £3,640.

Dominican College was listed in 1987 and underwent a £13 million redevelopment around 2003 aimed at providing modern facilities. Despite the extent of those modifications to the wider college, field inspection has found that no major changes have been made to the chapel since its construction in 1964–66.

Setting

The chapel has an internal wedge-shaped courtyard formed by the curving corridors and the school building, with a paved surface finish. A tarmacked pathway runs around the building with lawns to the south. The site, which lies within a conservation area, also includes the separately listed Walton House.