143 Malone Road, Belfast BT9 6SX

A substantial two-storey Italianate stuccoed former villa built in 1897 for Frank Kerr, a solicitor, to designs by architect William J Moore. The building is now used as offices for the Construction Employers Federation.

The structure occupies a corner site at the junction of Malone Road and Myrtlefield Park, facing south-east onto Malone Road. It sits back from the main road behind an original painted, lined and ruled rendered boundary wall with square piers and replacement metal railings. The site features mature landscaping to the front and a lawn, with the former rear lawn now converted to hard-surfaced car parking. The building is positioned on the south-west side of St John's Church of Ireland. An original single-storey rendered gatelodge survives on the south corner of the site, now refurbished with replacement windows and an artificial slate roof.

The building comprises an advanced main front block with a lower two-storey wing on the north-east side, abutted to the rear by a pitched-roof one-and-a-half storey extension on the north-west side with single-storey returns. The extension is built adjacent to the hall on the north-west side of St John's Church.

The main block features painted, lined and ruled rendered walls, a natural slate hipped roof with lead ridges and a central flat section. Two rendered chimneys rise on the front pitch and one on the rear. The return on the north-east side of the front block has a hipped roof with central flat section and no chimneys. All windows to the former villa are original 1/1 timber sliding sash with single glazing, except for three replacement uPVC windows to the rear façade of the side return. Painted moulded stone surrounds frame all windows except the bay windows. The building displays a painted plinth, stone cills, and string courses. Raised, toothed painted stone quoins run up the corners. Corbelled and dentilled eaves sit beneath moulded cast iron guttering.

The front elevation is symmetrical, with an advanced main block on the left and a lower two-storey return wing on the right. The front block features a central open porch flanked by single-storey canted bays with flat parapet lead roofs and square-headed window openings. The open porch has four painted stone columns with Corinthian capitals, with square pillars to the outer corners and circular pillars to the centre. An original bolection moulded six-panelled timber front door with decorative carved timber surround occupies the centre. Three pairs of arched window openings appear on the first floor level. The side return has two window openings on the ground floor level, one at each side, and four openings on the first floor level.

The south-west side elevation of the main block features a canted bay window on the left of the ground floor level, two window openings to the right of the bay, and two pairs of window openings on the first floor. A raised patio area runs along the left side of the main block. The south-west façade of the rear return, facing onto the raised patio, has a shallow square bay with three window openings on the ground floor level and three window openings aligned above, all with painted stone surrounds. A single window opening appears on the right side on both levels.

The north-west rear elevation of the main block displays varied fenestration, including a large stained glass window with an arched head to the approximate centre of the façade at half-landing level, a canted bay window on the left, and other single window openings. A rear door with a panelled timber door and upper glazed panel within a painted stone moulded surround is located in the left corner. Painted render chimney stacks rise on both left and right sides. The rear of the return has three square uPVC replacement windows on the ground floor level and three window openings on the first floor level.

The north-west side of the return is abutted by a one-and-a-half storey extension with painted, lined and ruled rendered walls, a pitched natural slate roof, and black clay ridge tiles. This extension displays varied fenestration comprising a mixture of replacement uPVC and timber windows, with roof light windows at eaves level and window openings below. A tall plain chimney rises from the rear gable. The one-and-a-half storey extension is abutted by single-storey returns on the south-west and north-east sides with monopitch roofs.

The north-east side elevation shows a ground floor abutted by a flat-roofed single-storey extension or return, with three window openings to the first floor level.

The building employs painted, lined and ruled rendered walls with painted stone surrounds and quoins throughout. The roof is natural slate with lead ridges. Windows are 1/1 timber sliding sash except for a small number of replacement windows to the rear. Rainwater goods comprise painted cast iron gutters and downpipes, with some painted PVC downpipes.