22a Cadogan Park, Belfast, BT9 6HG

22a Cadogan Park is a large detached two-storey house built circa 1940 in Arts and Crafts style, located on the north side of Cadogan Park in South Belfast. Construction began during the Second World War, a period when most building work was halted and few houses were erected in South Belfast due to wartime economies.

The land was owned by Frank Workman, a member of the prominent Workman family. Brothers John and Robert Workman had moved from Saltcoats in Ayrshire to Belfast in the early 19th century, where they became deeply involved in the town's religious and industrial life, helping to fund May Street Presbyterian Church and playing leading roles in Belfast's industrial expansion. Their grandsons, George and Thomas Workman, established numerous companies from the 1880s onwards, including the Irish Weaving Company, Workman and Clark Shipbuilders, and residential development companies that were instrumental in the late Victorian suburban expansion of Belfast, particularly along the Holywood Road to the east and the Malone and Lisburn Roads to the south.

The house was built on a gap site valued at 15 shillings around 1930, positioned between number 22 to the west and number 24 to the east. Street directories note that number 22a was under construction in 1940. Early occupants included F.F. Gowan (1942-1946), J.M. Wright (1945-1954), Frederick J.P. McKibbin (1955-1960), J.J. Leahy, a company director (1961-1981), and Elizabeth Gilmer from 1982 onwards.

The building is a symmetrical three-bay composition with two full-height bowed bays flanking the central entrance, both featuring projecting hipped roofs with the left bay projecting more deeply. An L-shaped ridge runs across the structure with a full-height return to the northwest. The principal south-facing elevation is set back behind the bowed bays. Single-storey and two-storey abutments extend to the rear north elevation.

The roof is hipped and covered with Rosemary tiles with terracotta ridge tiles, deeply overhanging and supported on substantial timber eaves brackets. Three tall brown brick chimneystacks with replacement pots rise through the roof. Half-round gutters appear to be replacements. The walls are finished in painted wetdash render over a brown brick plinth.

Windows throughout feature square-headed openings with plain reveals and painted projecting cills. They are metal-framed casements with lattice leaded cames, set behind secondary glazing. The bowed bays contain six-light windows. Above the central entrance is a two-light window.

The principal entrance is set in a brown brick surround with a Rosemary tiled canopy supported on timber brackets. The original painted timber multi-pane glazed door is accompanied by matching sidelights and is accessed via two tiled steps.

The west elevation has two windows aligned to the left and a projecting chimneybreast to the right. The north elevation is abutted by several single- and two-storey additions with hipped roofs detailed to match the main building, with a lean-to canopy abutting the west side. A square-headed door opening with an eight-pane transom light above a painted timber door opens from this elevation. The east elevation is dominated by a projecting chimneybreast.

The house retains much original historic fabric and detailing, including its Rosemary tiled roof and leaded lattice windows. The building is of particular significance for its construction date during the Second World War, its connection to the prominent Workman family, and the authenticity of its historic fabric and detailing.

The house is located on the north side of Cadogan Park, one of several large private residences set within a large private garden and partially screened from view by mature hedging. Vehicular access is via the southwest, approached along a tarmac drive. The property lies within a conservation area.