Inchmarlo Prep School, Cranmore Park, Belfast BT9 6JR

Inchmarlo Prep School is a substantial two-storey building with attic, constructed in 1881 as a symmetrical stone villa in Scottish Baronial style. It was built for James Anderson Bulloch, a linen shirt manufacturer with premises in Donegall Square South and Linenhall Street. The building is now used as Inchmarlo RBAI Preparatory Department.

The original structure is built of rock-faced coursed stone with sandstone surrounds and natural slate roofs, though the central section now has a flat roof with central rooflight. The principal elevation faces northeast and is symmetrical, featuring a canted central bay flanked by two advanced flat gabled bays, all with distinctive crow-stepped sandstone eaves detailing. The flanking bays contain shallow bay windows at ground floor with triple window openings and castellated parapet detailing, paired windows on the first floor, and single windows at attic level. Toothed sandstone quoins mark the corners of these flanking bays. The canted entrance bay has a centrally located entrance door within a carved sandstone surround and leaded coloured glazing. Stone corbels sit above first-floor windows on the side cant. Between the flanking and central bays are narrow wall sections with single window openings at ground and first floor levels. The original windows are 1/1 double-hung timber sliding sash with double and single glazing, set within sandstone lintels and surrounds. The front door is an original bolection moulded panelled door with original ironmongery and plain arched overlight, approached by three stone steps. An original cast iron lantern hangs centrally above the door below a carved stone plaque. A sandstone string course runs above ground floor window head height.

The southeast elevation is a three-bay façade with two stepped gables. The right bay matches the design of the northeast flanking bays. The narrow middle bay contains a large ground floor window and smaller window above. The left side features a two-storey canted bay with castellated parapet and stepped gable above with a single window opening.

A two-storey extension was added to the left side of the original building in 1935, designed by William David Redmond. This is constructed in red rustic brick in stretcher bond with a painted rendered concrete frame expressed at ground floor level. The extension features a hipped roof aligned northeast-southwest, with a wide opening forming a semi-open covered area at the centre of the ground floor level leading to a courtyard on the northwest side. The concrete ceiling is exposed, with brown brick to side walls and access doors. Aluminium windows with concrete cills are used throughout, with two window openings either side of the wide opening on the ground floor and nine along the first floor level. A single-storey single-bay flat-roofed section adjoins on the extreme left side with one window opening.

A brown brick gymnasium block and assembly hall with flat roof was added to the left side of the 1935 extension in 1967. The southeast façade of this block has three short uPVC/aluminium windows at low level with three aligned above, topped by a tall expanse of brick. A carved and moulded concrete school crest and coat of arms is centred on this façade with the text "QUAERERE VERUM" below.

The rear (southwest) elevation features a flat façade with a strip of floor-to-ceiling aluminium windows and integral doors running the full length, with six uPVC/aluminium window openings aligned above.

A canteen extension was constructed around 1960, accessed via a stepping link from the main building and following the terraced lawn. This outbuilding comprises brick and concrete construction with original Crittall windows framing views over the playing fields.

The northwest side elevation retains most of its original windows except for one uPVC replacement at upper level. A single-storey brick building with chimney flue over a cloakroom was constructed in 1935. Some windows on this elevation have been replaced with uPVC.

The site is entered via a gateway on the northern end flanked by two stone piers with rounded stone coping stones. The original building is centrally located on the southeast side of Cranmore Park, to the northwest of RBAI playing fields. The principal entrance is on the southeast side, with a brick entrance screen. The building, formerly known as "Cranmore" and subsequently "Mount Randal", occupies a prominent position within extensive parkland featuring terraced lawns, mature belts of trees, and a sweeping avenue from Cranmore Park. A secondary entrance is accessible via Osborne Gardens. Remnants of a walled garden remain, and the complex enjoys a mature secluded setting within the Malone Conservation Area, situated at the confluence of Cranmore Park, Osborne Gardens, and the rear gardens of residential dwellings on Bawnmore Road.