Buildings at 'Pilot Construction Ltd.', 13 Candahar Street, Belfast, Co Down, BT7 3AQ

Collection of three varied single storey builder's yard buildings at Pilot Construction Ltd., set on the north side of Candahar Street off Ormeau Road, south of Belfast city centre. The three buildings, probably dating from differing periods between approximately 1920 and 1940, are examples of Belfast Truss roofed construction. Building 3 may be the earliest, possibly dating from around 1920, whilst Buildings 1 and 2 appear more recent, perhaps from the 1930s–1940s.

Building 1 is a long rectangular single storey structure measuring approximately 24 metres by 9 metres. It backs onto the yard walls of houses to the east and is abutted by other buildings within the yard to the north and south, leaving only the long west elevation exposed. This elevation features a full length row of steel framed windows above a concrete block base, with corrugated metal and corrugated Perspex cladding above window level and timber piers distributed along its length. The curved roof is covered in corrugated metal with several central roof lights. The building is used as a joiners' workshop.

Building 2 lies directly north of Building 1 and measures approximately 19 metres by 9.7 metres. It also backs onto the yard walls of houses to the east. The west side is largely open with a timber door and large metal framed window. The north gable, not fully visible, appears to be rendered with its uppermost third in corrugated metal. The curved roof is covered in corrugated metal.

Building 3 stands to the west side of the yard. It is the largest of the three in height and width, though originally longer—a portion to the north having been demolished at some point. It now measures approximately 11.8 metres by 11.5 metres. The north gable is clad in an untidy patchwork of corrugated metal without openings; a Belfast Truss is exposed here due to the demolished section. The building backs onto a neighbouring structure to the east. The west elevation, visible only from a distance, has a series of very tall mullioned and transomed windows to the left and centre with a large full-height vehicle opening to the right. The south gable backs onto a wall with only its corrugated metal clad uppermost portion exposed. The curved roof is covered in corrugated metal. This building is in very poor condition.

The Belfast truss was developed in the mid-nineteenth century to meet the demand for efficient, lightweight and long-span roofs brought about by the industrial revolution. The first known reference to a curved wooden felted roof structure supported by bowstring girders appears in an advertisement in the Dublin Builder for 1866 by the Belfast firm of felt-makers, McTear & Co., which continued manufacturing trusses until ceasing business in 1908. A second Belfast felt supplier, Anderson & Co., began producing trusses to a slightly different design in 1886, launching their Mark II version in 1896, promoted as maximising long spans whilst maintaining light weight. This model was subsequently used by other companies and is now referred to by historians as the Belfast truss, a term widely applied to all timber bowstring trusses where the internal bracing members meet on the top curved member rather than on the bottom of the truss as was conventional.