Rathmore Grammar School, Convent of the Sacred Heart of Mary, Kingsway, Belfast, BT10 0LF

Rathmore Grammar School (formerly Convent of the Sacred Heart of Mary)

A two-storey Italianate mid-Victorian house dating from around 1870, most likely designed by the architectural firm Lanyon, Lynn and Lanyon. The building now forms part of Rathmore Grammar School complex, set within its own grounds fronting onto Kingsway, on the southeast side of the M1 motorway in Dunmurry, Belfast.

The main building has a rectangular plan with a single-storey entrance portico to the north, an L-shaped wing to the east side, and a single-storey extension to the northeast. The hipped roof is covered in natural slate with a central skylight, and is supported on overhanging eaves with a sandstone dentilled cornice. Tall chimney stacks in ashlar sandstone with corbelled coping and red-clay pots rise prominently. The walls are constructed in coursed rock-faced Armagh limestone with Giffnock sandstone dressings, built on a projecting limestone plinth. Wraparound moulded sandstone sill courses run at ground-floor and first-floor level on the main building and east wing, with a moulded string course separating the floors and a plain sandstone frieze below on the main building. Window openings are square-headed with plain architraves at ground-floor level and moulded architraves at first-floor level, all containing 1/1 timber sash windows.

The principal north elevation is five bays wide with a projecting hipped roof bay to the east. A two-bay projecting single-storey porch of ashlar sandstone at the centre features paired Tuscan columns on a stylobate forming an opening to the eastern bay, with sandstone walling, a window and paired pilasters to the western end. Windows to the porch are round-headed with moulded arch hoods, pronounced keystones and flanking small pilasters. The porch is topped by a plain frieze, cornice and a Renaissance-style balustraded parapet. Three stone steps lead into the porch interior, which has ashlar limestone walling and a rendered ceiling. A square-headed door opening on the west face sits within a segmental headed arch with a panelled tympanum and raised keystone. The polished timber nine-panelled door features bronze door furniture. A moulded string course runs across the three sides at impost level. A round-arch window appears on the north face and a recessed segmental arch on the east face. Four windows to the first floor above the porch have segmental headed moulded architraves, pronounced keystones and carved tympana.

The symmetrical west elevation is five bays wide with a single-storey semi-circular bay at each end and a three-bay wide balcony at the centre. The semi-circular bays are of ashlar sandstone, each containing three windows and topped by a balustraded parapet. The south bay windows are fitted with stained leaded glazing. A square-headed door opening at the centre features a replacement painted timber panelled door with glazing, opening onto four stone steps and flanked by a window on each side. Four corbelled brackets support the balustraded balcony.

The south elevation is five bays wide with a two-storey semi-circular bay off-centre. The eastern bay has paired windows at ground-floor level, with three windows to both ground-floor and first-floor of the semi-circular bay. The three ground-floor windows to the west and the bay windows at ground-floor level have stained leaded glazing.

The east elevation is six bays wide with a window to each bay at both ground-floor and first-floor levels, and is abutted by the projecting east wing.

The two-storey east wing abuts the main building to the northeast and consists of two blocks: one aligned west-east and a second aligned south-north, creating an L-shaped plan. A single-storey U-shaped extension with a hipped roof extends to the east of the wing, with a curved wall to the northeast corner. A small open quadrangle is formed between the extension and the east elevation of the wing. The L-shaped plan is visible from the north elevation: a four-bay elevation to the west-east aligned block and a single bay elevation to the south-north aligned block. Ground-floor windows to the first block have a stone panel to the apron and are fronted by a platform enclosed by a Renaissance-style balustrade. A four-bay elevation faces east on the second block. The south elevation consists of three bays to the west and a single bay to the east. A square-headed door opening at the western end features a replacement painted timber panelled door opening onto a ramp. A balustraded platform stands in front of the three western bays, with the first floor recessed behind a balustraded balcony. Due to a steep ground-level change, the seven-bay east elevation rises three storeys, with ground-floor openings onto a lower level connected to the U-shaped extension. Square-headed window openings with plain sash windows appear on the east elevation. The extension features uPVC rainwater goods and modern doors and windows. Access to the quadrangle is through a square-headed modern sheeted timber door on the east elevation of the extension, leading through a covered corridor to the paved quadrangle. Square-headed window openings with plain 1/1 timber sash windows overlook the quadrangle on all four elevations. A glazed timber screen with a square-headed door occupies the northeast corner, with a square-headed glazed timber door to the south. A glazed timber porch at the northwest corner forms the entrance to the east wing.

The building now occupies the north side of a large paved quadrangle surrounded by modern two and three-storey buildings to the east, west and south. A small circular landscaped area lies to the north.