Hall, SE of 34-36 Cliftonville Road, Belfast, Co Antrim, BT14 6JN

A detached gabled red-brick hall in the gothic style, built in 1923–24 to designs by Robert Inkerman Caldwell as a recreation hall for the nearby Home for the Blind. The building is situated to the southeast of 34–36 Cliftonville Road in North Belfast.

The hall is rectangular on plan with a projecting gabled porch to the northeast. The pitched roof is clad in natural slate with blue and black angled ridge tiles and raised sandstone verges on kneeler stones. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods are mounted on projecting red-brick eaves. The walling is English garden wall-bonded red-brick on a chamfered brick plinth with sandstone dressings. An egg-and-dart frieze runs beneath the eaves.

Windows are pointed-headed multi-paned metal casements with chamfered sandstone sills. All window openings are set in flush sandstone blocked surrounds with voussoirs and surmounted by hood moulds with decoratively carved stops. The northeast-facing gabled front is centred on the gabled porch, which is flanked by a window on each side and has a narrow loop window opening to the apex of the gable. The porch is lit on each cheek and opens with a replacement double-leaf timber-sheeted door surmounted by a pointed-headed transom light, accessed by two concrete steps enclosed by plinth walls. The northwest elevation contains five openings, including a replacement metal door at the far left surmounted by a pointed-headed transom light and accessed by a concrete ramp enclosed by plinth walls. The southwest gable has a narrow window opening to its apex. The southeast elevation displays five windows.

The setting comprises a tarmacadamed playground to the north and west of the hall. To the east is a lawned area with mature trees and picnic benches, enclosed by low red-brick and concrete walls. The hall is situated to the rear of the Home for the Blind and southeast of 34–36 Cliftonville Road.

The Home for the Blind was established at 26–30 Cliftonville Road in 1901. The initiative was founded by Mrs R B Pim and other women from well-to-do families who had begun home mission work among the blind. Having discovered poor conditions in the homes they visited, they rented a small house to assist deserving cases. In 1891 they purchased premises on Great Victoria Street, but additional space was needed. In 1901 they purchased the Cliftonville Road houses for approximately £3,000. The property was officially opened on 22 June 1901 by the Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava. The houses were converted to accommodate thirty females and twenty males.

The recreation hall, together with a separate laundry building to its left, was constructed in 1923–24 and entered valuation records in 1925, increasing the Home's valuation by £77. In 1952 both the laundry and recreation hall were sold to Belfast Royal Academy, which undertook a thorough renovation and incorporated the buildings into their preparatory school. The recreation hall remains in the ownership of Belfast Royal Academy.