Tropical Ravine, Botanic Gardens, Belfast

Tropical Ravine, Belfast Botanic Gardens

A multi-bay two storey red brick, steel and glass Victorian tropical ravine (fernery) built in 1887 to designs by Charles McKimm. The building is located in Belfast Botanic Gardens to the east of the Ulster Museum and south of the Turner Palm House.

The rectangular structure faces south-west and is built into a slope to accommodate a sunken ravine. It was constructed on the site of an earlier orchid, fern and lily house, incorporating many of the original features which now form the temperate section. The building was extended to the north-east in 1900 to form a stove section and underwent renovation in 1979, which resulted in the loss of the glazed timber roof structure.

The walls are constructed in red brickwork laid in English garden wall bond with moulded brick and red sandstone string courses, plinth and detailing. The two storey north-east gable features a decorative raised parapet with an off-centred boiler flue. Windows throughout are fixed pane timber with segmental heads, chamfered reveals with stop ends and sandstone keyblocks, set above red sandstone cills on moulded and corbelled brickwork detailing. Rainwater goods are galvanised steel.

The roof comprises a steel truss and purlin structure with a gable, covered with agricultural glass secured to steel rafters by clips and aluminium caps, with opening lights along the ridge.

The symmetrical single storey entrance gable on the south-west elevation comprises a low brick plinth wall with brick piers to the corners, glazed timber doors at the far left and right, with the remainder fully glazed. The multi-bay north-west elevation is two storey at the left, reducing to single storey at the right, with single windows to each first floor bay, moulded brick and sandstone string courses at various levels, and a timber sheeted door in a segmental-headed opening at ground floor left end bay. The plinth is chamfered with long-and-short brick quoins at the left corner. Bays are separated by paired vertical brick detail extending below the lowest string course to terminate in a moulded brick stop. A deep stepped red brick raised planting bed abuts the elevation along its entire length except the left end bay. The top left corner bears an Ulster History Circle plaque inscribed 'Charles McKimm 1848-1907 First General Superintendent of Belfast Parks 1903-1907'.

The two storey three bay north-east gable comprises a central door at ground level with single windows in end bays. The first floor has a single square-headed window to each bay surmounted by broken triangular sandstone pediments, with that to the central bay featuring a broken segmental pediment set forward. A single arched window sits above within the square gable. A brick flue rises from ground level to the left of the windows in the central bay. The plinth is chamfered with long-and-short brick quoins, and string courses follow the pattern established elsewhere, with a cill course at the window in the pediment. Bays are separated by detailing as before. A raised stepped and segmental parapet with sandstone copings and kneelers crowns this elevation.

The multi-bay south-east elevation is two storey to the right reducing to single storey to the left, matching the north-west elevation but without a door.

The building sits within Belfast Botanic Gardens, with a large open space to the east separated by mature planting. Trees stand to the north and south of the structure.