Former Water Office, 1 Donegall Square, Belfast, Co Antrim, BT1 5AA

Former Water Office

This is a four-storey building over a raised basement, built around 1870 to designs by William H. Lynn. It is constructed of red sandstone in an Italian Gothic palazzo style and occupies the north side of Donegall Square, with its main elevation facing south onto Donegall Place. The building is square on plan.

The building was internally reconstructed around 1935 when it became the District Water Commissions Office. It sustained extensive damage during the Second World War around 1941 and was internally rebuilt in 1984 for use as a department store.

The roof is covered with natural slate with rolled lead ridges and iron cresting, set behind a red sandstone blocking course with a deep crown cornice. The walling is formed of coursed and squared smooth red sandstone ashlar with continuous moulded impost and sill courses, and a moulded trim to the projecting red sandstone ashlar plinth course.

The south front elevation is symmetrical with multiple bays. Window openings vary in form—some pointed-headed, some round-headed, and some square-headed—with flush voussoired sandstone having bowtel moulded heads and replacement single-pane timber sash windows. Clustered fenestration appears to the centre. The elevation is crowned by a deep moulded cornice supported on angled brackets rising from a continuous bull-nose moulding and framing quatrefoil panels.

Slender colonettes are set within chamfers to the corners, with stiff-leaf capitals positioned below the first and third floors. Carved roundels appear between window openings on the first and second floors. The third floor has diminutive pointed-headed windows arranged in groups of three to the centre and paired elsewhere, with squat columns and stiff-leaf capitals. The second floor contains square-headed windows with stop-chamfered reveals set deep within round-headed openings with decorative carved overpanels. The clustered six central windows are flanked by pale stone columns with stiff-leaf capitals supporting the arches. First floor round-headed windows feature stop-chamfered reveals and pointed-arched hood mouldings rising from a continuous stiff-leaf impost moulding and resting on a stiff-leaf sill course. The central two windows open onto a balcony with an arcaded balustrade and stiff-leaf cornice supported on paired angled brackets forming the hood to the principal entrance.

The ground floor has square-headed windows with bowtel moulded reveals and carved overpanels set deep within round-headed openings. These have stop-chamfered reveals and hood mouldings rising from a continuous cavetto impost course. Each window is surmounted by a carved roundel bearing rampant lion motifs and monograms reading 'J', 'R', 'S', '&' and 'O'. The raised basement contains square-headed former window openings with stop-chamfered reveals, bowtel moulded heads, splayed sills and decorative wrought-iron grilles with tooled red sandstone behind, inserted around 1981.

The principal entrance is a central round-headed door opening forming a shallow breakfront with hood moulding and bowtel moulded archivolt springing from impost mouldings supported by polished granite columns having sandstone banding and stiff-leaf capitals rising from projecting pedestals. Double-leaf varnished panelled doors open onto replacement nosed sandstone steps enclosed by low sandstone walls with bull-nosed coping, terminating in squat sandstone piers with weathered capstones and quatrefoil roundels.

The west side elevation is multi-bay with four storeys over a raised basement and features a central tourelle with a conical slate roof and lead finial. Windows are detailed as on the front elevation. The tourelle has a deep moulded corbelled base and stepped pointed-headed window openings with colonettes and curved leaded windows. An additional storey rises above the crown cornice with an arcade of pointed-headed diminutive windows joined by squat colonettes.

The rear elevation is abutted by an adjoining mid-twentieth-century building.

The east side elevation is multi-bay with four storeys over a raised basement and window and facade detailing matching the front elevation. The windows are staggered to the centre to accommodate a former staircase with a round-headed door opening at ground floor level having double-leaf panelled timber doors with shouldered lintel, bowtel moulded reveals and carved overpanel, opening onto two nosed steps to the pavement. At the north end is a larger round-headed door opening with compound bowtel moulded surround, double-leaf varnished timber doors with stop-chamfered flat panels and overpanels, opening directly onto the pavement.

The front elevation is enclosed to the street by a low red sandstone wall with squat piers bearing weathered capstones and quatrefoil panels supporting replacement iron railing, with a replacement paved basement area. The building overlooks Belfast City Hall and is located to the northeast of Donegall Square.