Parliament Buildings, Stormont Estate, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast

Parliament Buildings, Stormont Estate, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast

Parliament Buildings is a detached, symmetrical, multi-bay, four-storey building over a basement, built in the Neoclassical style from Portland limestone, with a central portico and attic block. It was completed in 1932 to the designs of Liverpool-based architect Sir Arnold Thornely (1870–1953) and opened on 16th November 1932 by the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VIII), acting on behalf of his father King George V. It is a late and accomplished exercise in Greek Neoclassicism, spectacularly sited on an elevated position at the north end of the Stormont Estate in East Belfast. The listing covers the parliament building itself together with its boundary walls and lamp standards.

Historical Background

The building owes its existence directly to the Government of Ireland Act (1920), which established Northern Ireland as a self-governing part of the United Kingdom with Belfast as its provincial capital. A programme of public building followed partition to provide headquarters for the political, judicial and cultural institutions that had previously been based in Dublin. The Royal Courts of Justice (1928–33) and the Ulster Museum (1929) were products of this initiative, but Parliament Buildings was by far the most ambitious undertaking, providing a permanent seat for the new Northern Ireland Government.

The search for a suitable site began almost immediately after the 1920 Act. Belvoir Park, Belfast Castle and Orangefield were all considered and rejected, and a proposal to purchase the Presbyterian Assembly College outright was voted down. In the interim, parliament met at Belfast City Hall and at the Assembly College on Botanic Avenue, while government departments were scattered across various office buildings in Belfast city centre. In September 1921 the Stormont Estate was chosen, and parliament voted its approval on 20th September 1921. In December 1921 the Stormont Estate was purchased by the Commissioners of Public Works and Buildings of the Imperial Government for £20,334. Although it had originally been intended to demolish Stormont Castle to make way for the new building, the castle was ultimately retained and from 1932 served as the official residence of the Northern Ireland Prime Minister and the meeting place of the Cabinet.

The selection of Thornely as architect was not without controversy. He had designed the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board Building (1903–07), and was appointed by the Board of Works from a shortlist rather than through an open competition, provoking complaints from architects on both sides of the Irish Sea. The Board of Works stood by their choice. The original design was considerably more grandiose, featuring a massive central tower and dome with separate flanking blocks for civil service offices. By 1925 the estimated cost had risen to over £1,750,000. Following discussions between the Board of Works, the Treasury and the Northern Ireland Government, costs were reduced to £1,125,000 by merging the separate blocks into a single four-storey building and removing the central dome. Despite only one building being constructed, the plural name "Parliament Buildings" was retained, as multiple offices had originally been envisaged.

Site preparation began in March 1923, and the foundation stone was laid on 19th May 1928 by the first Governor of Northern Ireland, the Duke of Abercorn. This inscription is preserved on a stone within the portico, which reads: "This foundation stone / was laid by his grace the / Duke of Abercorn K.G., K.P., / the first governor of / Northern Ireland. On / the 19th day of May. 1928. Arnold Thornley / Architect. Stewart & Partners Ltd. / Builders." Construction was carried out by Stewart & Partners Ltd. of Belfast, Dublin and London, who submitted a tender of £300,000 and had also built the Royal Courts of Justice. Over 135,000 cubic feet of Portland limestone were used — a quantity never before demanded in Ireland — with locally quarried Mourne granite used for the plinth. The main structure was complete by 1931, and the building was formally opened in November 1932. The first parliamentary session took place on 22nd November 1932.

Exterior Description

The building is quadrangular on plan, faces south, and is arranged around a central wing and two internal courtyards. It sits on an elevated site, encircled by a paved granite terrace enclosed by a balustraded wall with elaborate cast-iron standard lamps. The roofs are flat and hidden behind a blind parapet wall, with no rainwater goods visible on the external elevations; cast-iron ogee hoppers and round downpipes serve the internal courtyards.

The walling throughout is Portland limestone ashlar, channel-rusticated to the ground floor over a raised and moulded plinth course (the basement being only partially raised). The principal cornice at the base of the parapet comprises an architrave and frieze decorated with wreaths, surmounted by a dentilated course and drip cornice embellished with anthemions and palmettes interspersed with lion heads. A platband with Vitruvian scroll runs above the ground floor, and a first-floor sill course acts as a continuous apron and plinth to the colonnaded elevations. Window openings are square-headed with flush sills and are largely glazed with 8/8 timber sash windows with slender ogee horns. Ground-floor windows have sill blocks with rosette ornament. Basement windows are 8-pane swivel timber windows fitted with cast-iron grilles.

The symmetrical front (south) elevation is 27 windows wide. The central seven windows form a shallow breakfront fronted by a pedimented Ionic portico and rise as a prominent attic block surmounted by a statue of Britannia. The attic block carries an elaborate frieze decorated with Irish elk heads and anthemions, surmounted by a drip cornice with anthemions and scrolls. The portico is prostyle and hexastyle in the Ionic order, rising from a rusticated ground-floor base. Its six fluted Giant Ionic columns are set on plinth blocks within a pierced balustrade, with responding pilasters flanking the window openings. The cornice matches the detailing described above, and the tympanum of the pediment is filled with carved statuary depicting Ulster presenting a flame of loyalty to Britain and the Commonwealth. First-floor windows are aediculated with architrave surrounds and flanked by scrolled console brackets supporting hood cornices. At ground level, three square-headed door openings are flanked by pairs of window openings glazed with multi-pane bronze windows. The door openings have decorative architrave surrounds flanked by scrolled console brackets supporting hood cornices, and contain double-leaf hardwood panelled doors with fish-scale brass glazed panels. The doors open onto a raised paved platform with universal-access ramps to either side and steps to the front.

The symmetrical west side elevation is 11 windows wide with a central colonnaded shallow breakfront seven windows wide, its parapet balustraded. The central five windows above ground-floor level are recessed: the central three are framed by engaged Giant Ionic order fluted columns and the remaining windows are framed by shallow Giant Doric pilasters. The central bay of this elevation has an advanced entrance porch containing an original hardwood swivel door with fish-scale brass glazing and overlight, framed by an architrave surround embellished with rosettes. Large foliate scrolled console brackets flank the opening and support a deep cornice surmounted by anthemions and a central carved shield. The door opens onto a raised paved platform with nosed steps, and is flanked by two cast-iron standard lamps. The porch itself is flanked by a pair of square-headed door openings with architrave surrounds, hardwood panelled doors, and multi-pane overlights.

The rear (north) elevation is 27 windows wide with the central five windows forming a breakfront. It is largely detailed as the front elevation, with the end bays of both the breakfront and the full elevation framed by Giant Doric order pilasters. The symmetrical east side elevation is 11 windows wide and detailed as per the west side elevation.

Interior

The interior layout has not been fundamentally altered since the 1930s. The building is organised around a Central Hall, flanked by wings containing the Senate Chamber (Upper House) and the Commons Chamber (Lower House). Interior decoration was carried out by G. Morrow & Son of Clifton Street and was heavily modelled on the decoration and ornamentation of Westminster. Among the most notable interior features is the chandelier in the Central Hall, originally a gift from Kaiser Wilhelm to his uncle King Edward VII. It formerly hung in Windsor Castle but was removed during the First World War and subsequently gifted to the Northern Ireland Government by King George V. A bronze statue of Lord Craigavon, designed by L. S. Merrifield, was installed in the Central Hall in 1945.

Historical Associations and Later History

In 1933 a bronze statue of Lord Edward Carson was unveiled in front of the building by Carson himself. Following Lord Craigavon's death in 1940, a limestone tomb for the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland was installed in the grounds to the east of the building. The First Revaluation in 1935 assessed the total rateable value of Parliament Buildings at £21,380.

During the Second World War the Royal Air Force occupied large portions of the building. The Upper House was converted into an RAF Operations Room, while the Senate was relocated to one of the dining rooms. The distinctive pale Portland stone façade and the easily identifiable road pattern converging on the building were considered to make it a conspicuous target for the Luftwaffe; the RAF consequently coated the entire exterior with a combination of asphalt and manure to blend the building into the surrounding grounds and countryside. After the war the building returned to parliamentary use.

The Parliament of Northern Ireland continued to sit at Stormont until the abolition of the parliament and the introduction of Direct Rule in 1972, by which time the total rateable value stood at £37,600. From 1972 the building was predominantly occupied by the Civil Service and closed to the public. Brief attempts to restore devolved government in 1973 and 1982 came to nothing. In January 1995 a fire completely destroyed the Assembly Chamber (Lower House). The damage prompted a comprehensive restoration of the entire building, carried out between 1995 and 1998 at a cost of over £22 million, predominantly by KARL Construction Ltd. with specialist sub-contractors. The work included the construction of a new Assembly Chamber with two new viewing galleries and modern audiovisual systems, restoration of the Portland stone façade, refurbishment of interior fittings including the chandeliers, and a reorganisation of the interior layout. Three former rooms were opened up to create a 180-foot function room known as the Long Gallery. Following the Good Friday Agreement (1998) and the subsequent St Andrews Agreements (2006–07), legislative authority was returned to Northern Ireland and the new power-sharing Northern Ireland Assembly took up residence at Parliament Buildings.

Setting

The building is set at the north end of the Stormont Estate, encircled by a large granite-paved terrace enclosed by a balustraded wall with elaborate cast-iron standard lamps. Bituminous macadam parking areas lie to the east and west, with a recently installed steel retaining wall to the rear embankment. The Craigavon memorial garden lies to the east. A large flight of limestone steps descends from the terrace through frontal terraced lawns to a bituminous macadam front area enclosed by steel railings. Five roads converge at a roundabout in front of the building, at the centre of which stands the Lord Carson memorial. The central avenue leads from the building down to the principal entrance gates on Newtownards Road, while a further lodge and entrance screen on Massey Avenue lies to the west; both the gates and the lodge were also designed by Arnold Thornely. The principal avenues from Newtownards Road and Massey Avenue are lined with pairs of well-proportioned fluted cast-iron lamp standards with bronze and glass lanterns with foliated detailing — 20 pairs lining the avenue from the main entrance steps to Newtownards Road, 4 pairs on the avenue from Massey Avenue, and 8 arranged in a circle around the Carson statue. The building has group value with the other listed structures on the Stormont Estate, including Stormont Castle, the Carson memorial, the Craigavon memorial garden, the principal entrance gates and the Massey Avenue lodge and entrance screen.