161-163 Victoria Street & 2 Glouchester Street, Belfast, BT1 4PE

Former bank, now offices, built around 1884–1885 to the designs of Samuel Patrick Close (1842–1925) of S.P. Close & Sons, a Belfast-based architect who trained with Lanyon, Lynn & Lanyon before establishing his own practice in 1872. The building was constructed for the Belfast Banking Company Ltd. by builders H. & J. Martin, and opened in 1885 as the Markets Branch of the Belfast Banking Company. It stands on the corner of Victoria Street and Gloucester Street, and is a two-storey building with an attic and a three-storey return, built of smooth red sandstone ashlar.

Architectural Overview

The building is square on plan, with its principal elevation facing east onto Victoria Street and a secondary elevation and three-storey return fronting onto Gloucester Street. It was formerly terraced, but the adjacent building has since been demolished, leaving it free-standing. The roofs are hipped and covered in natural slate with black clay ridge tiles and lead finials. There are three profiled red sandstone chimneystacks to the principal block, and profiled red brick chimneystacks to the return. A single gabled dormer sits on the front pitch, featuring a timber pediment on corbels, a replacement timber casement window, and slated cheeks. Ogee-moulded cast-iron guttering runs along a modillioned eaves cornice, with replacement steel downpipes on decorative brackets.

The principal and secondary elevations are finished in smooth red sandstone ashlar with a raised painted limestone plinth course and a full-span cornice over the ground floor. Other elevations are in red brick laid in English garden wall bond. Window openings on the ground floor are round-headed and on the first floor are segmental-headed; all have stepped surrounds, splayed sills, keystones, and continuous impost mouldings. The first-floor windows are single-pane timber sashes with hood mouldings, a continuous sill moulding, and recessed apron panels. Ground-floor windows are replacements.

Principal and Secondary Elevations

The front elevation is four windows wide. At its centre, two windows are served by a decorative sandstone balcony supported on robust paired brackets with foliate carvings. To the left is a round-headed doorway with a decorative sandstone surround, an original folding double-leaf timber panelled door and fanlight, opening onto four granite steps with decorative wrought-iron gates. The south side elevation is blank, having formerly abutted the adjoining building. The west rear elevation has an irregular arrangement of windows and lean-to extensions, with segmental-headed window openings having sandstone heads and sills.

The secondary north elevation comprises both the side of the principal block — detailed to match the front elevation, with a chimney rising from the centre of the elevation from a pair of corbels with a foliate panel — and a three-storey section extending to the right, three windows wide. This three-storey element is less detailed than the principal block: it has a deeply coved eaves cornice, segmental-headed window openings with stop-chamfered reveals, splayed sills, continuous sill courses, and single-pane timber sash windows. To the right of this elevation is a segmental-headed doorway with a moulded surround and keystone, fitted with a replacement double-leaf hardwood door, opening onto three granite steps.

Historical Context

The Belfast Banking Company was established in 1827 and operated for nearly 150 years. The Markets Branch was built after the company's directors identified the district adjoining the Belfast Markets as a promising location for banking operations. A site was secured on what was then known as Great Edward Street — a stretch of Victoria Street closest to the Markets — and construction began in 1884. The building was completed in 1885 at a construction cost of approximately £3,400, and was valued at £150 on completion.

The three-storey return to the rear originally served as the Bank Manager's house. A ground plan included with revaluation records from 1900 — when the building's value was raised to £245 — indicates that the layout of the bank had not been discernibly altered since its construction. The building comprised twelve rooms, excluding a kitchen. In 1901, the branch manager was a Mr James Bennet. The value was slightly increased to £250 in 1908 following a reorganisation of outbuildings, and to £350 under the First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland in 1935.

The bank survived the Belfast Blitz of 1941. By the 1950s, the bank manager no longer resided on the premises, and part of the upper floors was being used as storage. The Belfast Banking Company continued to occupy the building until around 1970, when it merged with the Northern Bank Company Ltd., at which point the Markets Branch closed. The branch had been a commercial success throughout its operation, largely due to the constant trade generated by the nearby markets. The building lay vacant for some years thereafter, as recorded in a 1976 survey image. It was listed in 1979.

Samuel Patrick Close designed at least five offices for the Belfast Banking Company, the others located in Enniskillen, Coleraine, Ballymena, and Warrenpoint. The building has since been converted to office use and is currently occupied by Lough & Quay, estate and property agents.