8 Notting Hill, Belfast, BT9 5NS

Modernist detached house of around 1972, designed by Brian Lowe for Alan and Renee Henry, situated on the north side of Notting Hill in a mature, landscaped suburban setting lined with mature trees and a mix of early and late 20th-century detached houses on large plots.

Brian Lowe was a Glasgow-born interior designer who moved to Belfast at the age of eleven. Though not a registered architect, he is noted for his work on the interior of the extension to the Ulster Museum (designed by Francis Pym, completed 1971) and for developing the corporate interior style and worldwide store fit-out for The Body Shop. The house is understood to have remained with the Henry family until around 1975–76, when it was acquired by Patrick McAreavey, an accountant, who lived there until at least 1996.

The house is irregular in plan and built in brown/grey clay brick in stretcher bond throughout. It comprises a two-storey central block with a smaller single-storey outshot with a monopitch roof to the south-east corner, and a single-storey flat-roofed outshot containing a carport and garage to the east façade. Roofs are flat or monopitch, covered in single-ply membrane or lead, with coursed concrete block parapets. Rainwater goods are generally internal, with an exposed hopper and downpipe on the south elevation, possibly in uPVC. Windows throughout are the original black powder-coated metal frames. All openings are square-headed with exposed in-situ concrete heads and precast or slim metal cills — a characteristic feature of the béton brut approach used consistently across every elevation.

The south (front) elevation presents the two-storey central block at its centre, with a single-storey projecting bay to the left extending almost halfway along the main block, and the single-storey carport to the right. At the re-entrant angle between the projecting bay and the main block sits a triangular-plan porch, consisting of a flat, deep in-situ concrete canopy supported on a brick pier, with a deep in-situ concrete head above. At first-floor level directly above the porch, centred on the main block, is a single square-headed, floor-head-height window with exposed in-situ concrete head and slim metal cill. A narrow full-length slit opening marks the junction between the porch and the main block. The front door is recessed and comprises a large timber-framed pivoting glazed screen with a fixed glazed sidelight to the left, a single flush step, and plain concrete flags to the ground area. The porch and laneway soffit is painted boarded timber. To the right of the front door is a discreet external laneway screened behind the front wall, connecting the entrance to the carport. A built-in timber post box is mounted on the wall to the right of the door, and a narrow clerestory window lights the ground-floor bathroom. The projecting bay to the left of the south elevation has two square-headed, floor-to-head-height windows with exposed in-situ concrete heads and slim metal cills — one large square opening at centre and one narrow-profile opening to the far right. A small three-quarter-height screen wall is attached to the far left corner of the projecting bay, with concrete block copings. The carport has a plain deep soffit with smooth cement render finish and slim concrete copings, a protruding rectangular brick pier at the south-west corner, painted boarded timber soffit, and concrete flags to the ground area.

The north (rear) elevation has at ground level one rectangular window to the left and a large floor-to-head-height window to the right, with a small three-quarter-height screen wall attached to the left of the large window, with concrete block copings. At first-floor level there are three windows in a combination of rectangular and irregular styles. All openings follow the same square-headed treatment with precast concrete cills and exposed concrete heads as on the other elevations. The roof is flat with single-ply membrane and matching parapets.

The east side elevation is largely occupied at ground level by the single-storey projection, comprising the open carport to the left — with a protruding rectangular brick pier to the left and the external store room wall to the right — and an external store room and boiler house to the right. The boiler house is constructed in flush stained timber sheets. To the north face of the single-storey projection is a small recessed porch, with the external store room door straight ahead and the back door to the kitchen to the right; both doors are glazed with outer timber frames. There is a recess for a fire hose reel to the left of the porch. The single-storey projection has a plain deep soffit with smooth cement render finish and slim concrete copings. At first-floor level on the east elevation are three windows in a combination of square, clerestory, and irregular styles, all square-headed with precast concrete cills and exposed concrete heads.

The west side elevation presents the two-storey block with a single-storey projecting bay to the far right and a small three-quarter-height screen wall to the far left corner. The projecting bay has a set of patio doors to the right and the screen wall described on the south elevation attached to its corner. At ground-floor level on the main block there are two sets of patio doors, a slit window, and a large full-height fixed window, with a brick pier with concrete block coping between one set of patio doors and the large fixed window. The three-quarter-height screen wall to the left corner has concrete block copings and incorporates a built-in barbecue with a concrete ledge supported on brick corbels and an exposed concrete head. A patio area paved in concrete flags extends to the south of this screen wall, with a dwarf boundary wall to the west in matching construction. At first-floor level on the main block is a single floor-to-head-height slit window. The roof to the main block is flat and to the projecting bay is monopitch.

Internally the house is described as almost completely intact, part open-plan, and featuring a hallway atrium with an original contemporary staircase and a first-floor gallery. It retains a wealth of bespoke fitted furniture and fixtures throughout, representing a remarkably well-preserved modernist interior.

The house is set back slightly from the road and is bounded by a hedge to the front and mature trees to the north, east, and west. Access is via a short tarmac driveway and a separate pedestrian path to the right of the south boundary. There is a large lawned garden to the west and a patio area on the west façade. Two dwarf square brick piers and a dwarf wall, with concrete block copings to match the house and a recessed light fitting at the corner of the dwarf wall, demarcate the vehicular and pedestrian entrances; there are no gates. Paths to the front door, to the carport, and around the carport, external store, and kitchen/utility areas are all paved in concrete flags.