Waterman House, 5-23 Hill Street, Belfast, Co Antrim, BT1 2LA

Waterman House is an attached two-storey office building constructed around 1895, located on the east side of Hill Street in Belfast city centre. The building is rectangular on plan, aligned north-south, with extensions to the north and east, and a former attached building at the south which has been demolished.

The principal west elevation, facing Hill Street, displays ruled-and-lined painted render with a pitched natural slate roof. The roof has a parapet with cavetto moulded coping at the west, a stone verge to the south, blue and black ridge tiles, lead valleys, and a dentiled eaves course supporting an ogee profile cast-iron rainwater goods system. The first floor is marked by a continuous ogee moulded sill course with moulded architrave above and below.

The ground floor features large multi-paned segmental arched window openings with double ovolo moulded architrave, plain stop-chamfer, and splayed flush sills. A central segmental arched entrance comprises double diagonally sheeted timber doors with a glazed segmental arched transom light containing the inscription "WATERMAN/HOUSE/2-33" set within a deep reveal with double ovolo moulded architrave and plain stop-chamfer. The entrance is flanked by two windows. To the left stands a segmental arched carriage arch containing double diagonally sheeted vehicular entrance doors reinforced with steel bracing, providing access below first floor rooms to an enclosed yard at the east. All ground floor openings are surmounted by moulded architrave following the segmental lines of the fenestration.

The first floor contains a central window above the principal entrance, flanked by two sets of paired windows to the right and three to the left. These windows are diminished segmental arched openings with moulded architrave and are located centrally within recessed panels surmounted by a Lombardy frieze. The current windows throughout are replacement aluminium casements.

The east elevation is abutted almost entirely by a lower two-storey extension built around 1895, except for the carriage arch bay. The extension walling is exposed English-garden wall bonded brick at first floor and smooth render at ground floor. The exposed section at first floor contains eleven square headed window openings with sandstone heads and masonry sills. The gable facing onto the carriage entry contains a modern electric door at the left and a window at the right. The gable facing into the enclosed yard is smooth rendered at ground floor with large multi-paned glazing and a door at the centre. The first floor gable is adjoined by various surface-fixed air-conditioning units and pipes.

A three-storey square-on-plan extension has been added further east, constructed of English-garden wall bonded red brick with flat roof and parapet. It features square headed aluminium casement windows with sandstone heads and masonry sills, and cast-iron rainwater goods.

A modern three-storey red-brick extension, built around 1990, fully abuts the north gable and is of no architectural interest.

The building is set on a street-fronted city centre site with an enclosed yard to the rear, bounded by the later extensions to the north and east.