Dundonald House, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast, BT4 3SU

Dundonald House is a large, imposing International Style government office complex built between 1961 and 1963 to a design by Belfast-born architect Robert Hanna Gibson (1890–1979), with E.D. Taylor as associate architect and Messrs Higgs and Hill of London as contractors. Described by architectural historian Dr Paul Larmour as "one of the first big modern blocks in Ulster", it is considered a scarce and outstanding example of its kind within the Northern Ireland context, and is of considerable architectural and historical interest. Excavation began in May 1960, the foundation stone was laid on 4 March 1961, and the building was officially opened by the Governor of Northern Ireland, Lord Wakehurst, on 19 April 1963. At the time of opening the Belfast Telegraph described it as "an eye-catching flash of white Portland stone and Mourne granite against the green background of the Stormont grounds and Knock golf course."

The 241,000 square foot (five-and-a-half-acre) complex was built for the Northern Ireland Ministry of Agriculture and intended as the workplace for 1,600 civil servants from three Ministries — Agriculture, Education, and Labour and National Insurance — who had previously been scattered across various buildings throughout Belfast. The building was apparently opened to staff in June 1962. The Ministry of Education initially occupied the lower four levels of the north wing, the Ministry of Labour the three floors above that, and the Ministry of Agriculture the ten floors of the south wing, above which the Belfast Telegraph reported was "Belfast's only 'skyline' restaurant stretching the full width of the 12th floor and offering staff a dizzy view across the rooftops of the city." The complex remains in use as a government office.

The building comprises three reinforced concrete framed blocks set over a basement. The southern block rises to twelve storeys, with the canteen occupying the top level; the floors at this uppermost level are slightly set back on the east and west sides. The northern block is seven storeys high and subtly curved. These two blocks overlap and are linked by a central connecting block: on its western side this rises to seven storeys with a double-height ground-floor entrance lobby and a slightly set-back additional roof-level pavilion above; on its eastern side it rises to fourteen storeys, the upper two floors being plant areas. The north and south wings are off-set and abut the linking block on its north and south faces respectively.

Set slightly to the east, a tunnel extends the entire length of the building with domed rooflights — a later addition — set at ground level along its length; at either end, open ramps rise back to ground level. Service entrances open off this basement tunnel. There are four pedestrian entrances in total: the main entrance on the west side of the linking block, a staff car park entrance on the east side, and two further entrances on the west side — one to the north of the north block and one to the south of the south block — now used as emergency exits at the foot of stairwells.

Fenestration follows function to a considerable degree. Glazing to the general office areas in the north and south blocks is arranged in wide groups of three, while windows to the more prestigious office areas in the linking block are square openings punctured into the Portland limestone façade. Ancillary accommodation such as stores and toilets has high-level rows of windows; stairwells have vertical glazing panels; and entrance areas are fully glazed. Fenestration to general office areas on the east and west façades, though not identical, is very similar. In the central sections, high-level windows lighting the basement combine with ground-floor windows to create a subtle plinth effect. The north block has a horizontal emphasis created by windows and mullions resting on full-width horizontal bands. The south block has a marked vertical emphasis created by mullions extending continuously from top to bottom. The fenestration at the ends of both the north and south blocks is not original and was re-clad around 2000; where possible the Portland stone was re-used, but the other tiled cladding and windows are all replacements.

The west elevation is the main public face of the building. The main entrance is set at ground-floor level of the linking block, reached by a wide flight of four steps — a later addition — rising to an entrance platform. Three sets of paired entrance doors are sheltered by a minimalist cantilevered canopy, the underside of which is finished with mosaic tiles. A rather crude later addition has been made to the left side of the canopy to give protection to a later wheelchair ramp; this additional section rests partly on the original cantilevered canopy and partly on square steel columns, with plainly detailed bituminous felt sealing the junction. There have been some changes to the area immediately in front of the entrance, which was originally plainer. Flanking the steps are screen walls with square pillars and matching copestones; flanking these walls are wide planters, that to the left somewhat altered to integrate the wheelchair ramp. The linking block projects forward at this point, with the upper floors supported on exposed double-height columns clad in red marble. The upper front façade and the exposed portion of the south face of the linking block have hole-in-wall square windows, with the governmental coat of arms above the entrance. Set back at roof level is a glazed pavilion with an in-situ concrete roof with an upturned front edge, linked by a glazed corridor to the rear of the linking block. To the left of the entrance, the seven-storey curved north block presents its west face: the central area has glazing with a horizontal emphasis flanked by a stairwell to the south and a stairwell with ancillary accommodation — formerly a toilet block — to the north. To the left of the south stairwell is a full-height vertical tiled panel; to the right is a full-height vertical glazed panel. Each upper floor of the toilet accommodation has high-level rows of glazing set on ceramic panels. At ground-floor level in this section is a fully glazed secondary entrance with a small cantilevered canopy. To the right of the entrance the eleven-storey south block is visible, with its stairwell and ancillary accommodation forming a stop-end to the far right, and the general office glazing with its vertical emphasis to the right-hand section.

The north elevation is plainly clad in Portland limestone panels with a central full-height glazed panel lighting the stairwell. This elevation was re-clad around 2000 with Portland stone re-used where possible, but with replacement windows throughout.

The east elevation presents the convex face of the curved north block to the right, which is otherwise identical to its west façade. The centre comprises the east side of the linking block, plainly clad in Portland limestone panels with only three openings — ventilation for the lifts — at the thirteenth storey, each a small square opening with raised Portland limestone surrounds. A Portland limestone-clad chimneystack rises above roof level to the left side. The centre and left of the central block rise to the fourteenth level. To the off-set right side is a glazed entrance screen at ground level with squared windows above, rising to the seventh level; the former rear entrance doors have been changed and a recently added functionally detailed entrance canopy and ramp have been added along the full length of the linking block. The left portion of the east elevation is composed of the east face of the south block, with general rows of glazing at the centre, a vertical strip of stairwell glazing to the right, and stairwell and ancillary accommodation — with high-level rows of windows set on tiled panels — forming the stop-end.

The south elevation matches the north, with a central vertical glazing panel in plain Portland limestone cladding. It was re-clad around 2000, with Portland stone re-used where possible but replacement windows throughout.

Roofs are flat with raised parapets and are covered with bituminous felt. The south block originally had rooflights over the restaurant. Rainwater is carried internally within the structure with no external rainwater goods, except on the rooftop pavilion which has circular-section cast-iron downpipes and fixings. At either end of the roof on both the north and south blocks is a single-storey, featureless metal-clad box with rounded corners — originally covered in copper cladding — containing water cisterns and lift mechanisms. A UV monitoring station for Northern Ireland, linked to the Met Office in London, is set on the roof. Set back from the parapet on the linking block roof is a small sick-bay pavilion, entirely glazed with an overhanging concrete roof with a curved upturned edge to the west side; a flagpole rises through a circular hole in the concrete roof, held against strong winds by thin stainless steel fins arranged radially with a central collar.

Walls are clad in Portland limestone, precast concrete panels, and various ceramic-clad panels. The original tiles were pale green, but the two ends of the north and south blocks have been replaced in recent times in dark grey tiles. Original windows appear to be galvanised steel with original catches and tilt-and-turn hinges; replacement glazing is aluminium. Secondary glazing has been added to the office areas. Roofs are covered with bituminous felt. Roads and parking areas are finished with tarmac; pavements with concrete flagstones.

Internally, the connecting block originally housed the suites of the three Ministers. The main conference room — described at the time as "one of the show pieces of the building" — extended the full width of the second floor and featured flush panelling in Burma teak-faced timber, brown carpet, and dark green curtains. On the fifth floor was the automatic and manual telephone exchange for the building. The south and west fronts of the entrance hall were enclosed with a two-storey screen of black and gold anodised aluminium double-glazed screen, with three sets of similarly finished inner and outer double doors on the west front, each set with a low porch lined in Botticino marble. The square columns rising two storeys immediately outside the glazed screen on the south and west fronts were finished in golden travertine marble and rested on a low Roman stone podium at ground-floor level. At the very top of the linking block, a glazed screen penthouse reached through a glass corridor from the seventh floor housed the medical officer's quarters. The complex also featured a tunnel entrance to the basement for the quick dispatch and collection of school examination papers, served by a book lift leading to the offices of the Education branch. Aspects of the present internal layout differ from the 1959–61 plans.

The gates, gate piers, and boundary treatment are included within the listing. Gate pillars are square, clad in Portland limestone with stone caps and a shallow projecting plinth. Vehicular gates are large and plain, with outer edges running on castors, and matching pedestrian gates at either side. To the right of the original front gate is a revolving one-way security pedestrian gate. The southern and eastern boundaries are protected with spear-style metal railings set on copings with diagonal braces to the rear; gates and gate pillars have metal spikes. Adjacent to both vehicular entrances are recent barriers and GRP security huts.

The ten-acre site lies on the southern side of the Stormont Estate, on flat ground between the southern slopes of the Holywood Hills and the Upper Newtownards Road, approximately four kilometres east of Belfast city centre. It was most recently used for the rearing of poultry before construction began. Originally access opened directly off the Upper Newtownards Road, making the west side of the linking block the main entrance; this was subsequently closed and the Stoney Road entrance on the eastern boundary became the principal vehicular access. A one-way traffic system had originally operated clockwise from the Upper Newtownards Road entrance to the Stoney Road exit. The site drawings of May 1960 show that a gate screen and lodge of approximately 1858–60 were intended to be retained, but both were pulled down in 1962 as they were reportedly interfering with the approach to the new building. This entrance had originally served as the principal access to Stormont Castle itself, and the site had previously formed the grounds of Rose Park, a pre-1830s country residence. The setting has witnessed some changes over the years, most notably the creation of additional car parking to the south and east, alterations to the area immediately around the main entrance in the form of pillars and planters, and the placing of two low-level modular buildings to the south and east. Map evidence shows that additional structures were added immediately to the north and south of Dundonald House sometime between 1966 and 1977, but these have since been removed. The majority of the green space and planting remains in place and continues to complement the overall composition.

Despite these changes, Dundonald House remains a well-preserved example of a now rare early 1960s International Style building, with effective massing, simple detailing, an intact feature canopies, a designed roofscape, and an imposing presence within its designed open parkland landscape setting. The curving of the northern block is unexpected and adds interest to the structure.

Robert Hanna Gibson, the architect, was born in Belfast, attended the Royal Belfast Academical Institution, and trained under Henry Seaver, with whom he formed the firm of Seaver and Gibson in the early 1930s. He was later in partnership with J.H. Stevenson around 1940–42 and with E.D. Taylor from 1949 until his retirement around 1964. In collaboration with J.G. Smyth he produced several unexecuted designs for war memorials in Scotland and England in the 1920s, and collaborated with John McGeagh in 1935 on the winning design for the extension to the Belfast Municipal Sanatorium at Whiteabbey. His influences were varied: his first distinctive major work, the War Memorial Hall in Ballinderry, County Antrim, of 1924, shows touches of Clough Williams-Ellis; the Heyn Memorial Hall of 1928–29 is decidedly Lutyens-like; his 1931 St Christopher's Church of Ireland in Mersey Street, Belfast, is a minimalist take on Romanesque; St Jude's Parish Hall, Ravenhill Road, Belfast (1933–34) blends a pared-down form of Lombardic and Neo-Georgian; and St John the Evangelist Church of Ireland, Castlereagh Road, Belfast (1955–57) is Neo-Gothic. Gibson was President of the Royal Society of Ulster Architects from 1931 to 1933, 1946 to 1948, and 1950 to 1952, and was prominent in other public bodies including the Ulster Arts Club, of which he was President in 1933 and 1934, and the Government Building Committee. Dundonald House, on which he worked with Taylor, was his last and possibly largest commission before retirement.