2 Lower Crescent, Belfast, Co Antrim, BT7 1NR

No. 2 Lower Crescent is a relatively large, three-storey rendered town house forming part of a Regency-style terrace of eleven similar, though not identical, properties built in 1852. The terrace, known as Lower Crescent, sits to the east of University Road and faces, across a small public park, Upper Crescent — a comparably styled development of 1846 which, unlike Lower Crescent, is arranged in a true crescent form. The building has since been converted, along with its neighbours, to offices, flats and a public house. No. 2 is positioned close to the west end of the terrace and is one of a pair of the more ornate properties in the group, distinguished by large two-storey Corinthian columns to the front.

EXTERIOR

The front elevation is asymmetrical and faces roughly south. At ground-floor level to the right is the entrance, comprising a recessed timber panelled door with panelled pilaster jambs and a rectangular two-pane fanlight, approached by three stone steps. To the left of the doorway are two tall sash windows with Georgian panes (6/6). At first-floor level, three larger windows sit on a continuous sill course; these have moulded surrounds and sash frames with Regency-style panes (2/4). At second-floor level, three pairs of narrow semicircular-headed sash windows with horizontal glazing bars (1/2) rest on a more pronounced, cornice-like sill course decorated with dentillations.

The ground floor is finished in rusticated render, the first floor in a less pronounced rustication, and the uppermost floor in plain render. Four large, evenly spaced Corinthian three-quarter columns span the full height of the ground and first floors, supporting a projecting frieze just below the second-floor sill course. The column to the far left is square rather than round. Corresponding to these columns at second-floor level are four panelled pilasters, which rise to form parapet piers with a pierced, balustrade-like parapet between them.

The rear elevation is completely rendered. To the left-hand (east) side is a two-storey gabled return. On the upper floor of the gable there is a window with a modern frame to the left. To the right, the return merges with a two-storey projection with a monopitched roof. On the north-facing rear of this projection there is a further window with a modern frame, while at ground-floor level there is a flat-arched vehicle entrance fitted with a modern roller shutter. On the inner south-facing side of the projection there is a large flat-arched opening at ground-floor level. On the inner west-facing side of the return there is a doorway to the far left, positioned within the open arch area of the projection. To the right of this is a square sash window with Georgian panes (3/6), and further to the right are two windows of differing sizes, both with modern frames. At first-floor level on the return there are two windows of differing sizes, also with modern frames.

On the rear façade of the main house there is a sash window to the right at ground-floor level with Georgian panes (6/6). At first-floor level there is a similar window to the right, with two smaller windows (3/3) at second-floor level, positioned centre and right. Between the first and second floors to the left is a half-landing window matching that at first-floor level.

The gabled roof is slated. There is a tall rendered chimneystack with a projecting coping and uniform pots to the west. Rainwater goods are a mixture of cast iron and PVC.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

The development of Lower Crescent and its neighbour, Upper Crescent, was a direct consequence of the selling off of much of Lord Donegall's Belfast estate in the early to mid 19th century, which opened up large areas of land around the town. The lands to the south, along the Malone Ridge, were particularly attractive to developers and gave rise to many fine late Georgian-style terraces from the mid 1830s onwards, a trend accelerated by the establishment of the prestigious Queen's College in the area in the later 1840s. These grand new terraces were occupied by Belfast's professional and business classes, who were leaving their older residences in the town centre, which were gradually converted into shops and offices.

Upper Crescent was perhaps the grandest of these southern terrace developments — an elegantly curving row of three-storey dwellings in a late Regency style, built in 1846 by timber and shipping merchant Robert Corry. Its authorship is uncertain, though Dr Paul Larmour has suggested that Charles Lanyon may have been involved. Corry undertook the building work himself and took up residence at the east end of the row, which for its first few years was known as Corry's Crescent. To the immediate south of the crescent, on land where a church and small park now stand, Corry laid out a large lawn as a garden. Shortly after it was laid out, however, he had it ploughed up and used for the cultivation of vegetables to provide relief for local workers suffering as a result of the Great Famine.

To the north of this garden ran an old watercourse flowing northwards into the Basin, a reservoir east of the Dublin Road. To the east lay smaller gardens belonging to other occupants of the crescent, and further east and north-east ran Albion Lane, a narrow semi-rural laneway stretching from the north end of Bradbury Place to the east end of the present University Terrace.

In 1852 Corry built a second terrace to the north of his garden and just south of the old watercourse. This new development — the erroneously named Lower Crescent — was built in much the same style as Upper Crescent and was occupied by a similar mix of professionals and businessmen, though by as early as 1860 the ground floors of some properties were already in use as offices. In the later 1860s a railway line was cut immediately to the north of Lower Crescent, along the line of the old watercourse. In 1873 a large sandstone building, originally the Ladies Collegiate and later Victoria College, was added to the west end of the terrace. By the close of that decade, two further houses had been added to the east end, the most easterly of which — Rivoli House, designed by William Hastings — originally contained a dance academy run by a Frederick Brouneau. The new railway line cut across Albion Lane and preceded the laying out of the new, broader thoroughfare of Botanic Avenue.

Upper Crescent also saw further building in the 1860s and 1870s. Two large properties designed by William Hastings were erected at the west end in 1869, one of which — Crescent House, now the Bank of Ireland — also fronted onto University Road. In 1878–79, two further houses were added on the ground between the 1869 properties. Between 1885 and 1887 the large Presbyterian church, now the Crescent Church, was erected to designs by Glasgow architect John Bennie Wilson on the west side of Robert Corry's former garden. In 1898 a two-storey terrace, the present Crescent Gardens, was built on the site of smaller garden plots at the east end.

During the first half of the 20th century, most properties in Upper and Lower Crescent and Crescent Gardens remained private dwellings, but by 1960 many had been given over to business use or divided into flats, with the former Rivoli House — later known as Dreenagh House — becoming the Regency Hotel. This trend continued, and by the beginning of the 21st century none of the properties were occupied as private dwellings. In the mid 1990s three of the 1860s to 1870s houses at the west end of Upper Crescent were demolished and replaced by a modern office block. In 2000 the railway cutting to the south of Lower Crescent was built over in preparation for a new development.

HISTORY OF NO. 2 LOWER CRESCENT

No. 2 is one of the eleven houses that made up the original 1852 section of Lower Crescent. In 1858 it was occupied by one John Savage, a flax merchant. John Corry, a relative of Robert Corry, is listed as resident in 1862, followed by a Mrs Cuppage in 1877 and a Mrs McDouall (possibly McDowell) in the 1890s and early 1900s. The property came into the possession of the nearby Victoria College at some point between 1910 and 1920 and remained so until that institution left Lower Crescent in the 1970s, though for much of this period it appears to have been leased to various business and private tenants. In the 1980s it became a health centre, apparently integrated with its neighbour No. 3, then a stationery shop (also integrated with No. 3), and later offices. The building lies within a conservation area.