Woolworths And Burton Buildings, 1-15 High St. And, 2-10 Cornmarket, Belfast

Woolworths and Burton Buildings

A large-scale four-storey steel-framed building in Art Deco style, built around 1930 as separate commercial premises for Woolworth's and Montague Burton. It was designed by the construction department of F.W. Woolworth & Co Ltd, Liverpool. The building is roughly rectangular in plan with a substantial mid-to-late 20th century red-brick extension to the rear. It occupies a prominent corner site in the centre of Belfast's commercial district, with its two main façades addressing both High Street and Cornmarket.

The flat roof, of undetermined material, is concealed behind a heavy corniced parapet on the principal elevations, enriched with stylized leaves. The steel-frame structure is faced in artificial stone cladding and adorned with Art Deco ornamentation displaying classical influences. The principal façades feature curtain glazing to frame construction with vertical emphasis. Windows are symmetrically arranged metal-frame tripartite openings.

Giant pilasters embellished with Egyptian-style capitals separate the window bays. These pilasters stem from the first floor cill course and rise three storeys to carry the cornice at eaves level. Window bays are horizontally divided at each floor level by metal panels enriched with rosettes and anthemions on the third floor. Rainwater goods are hidden from view except for cast-iron downpipes to the east elevation.

The ground floor of the north and west elevations comprises almost entirely glazed modern shop fronts with a deep plain fascia over, featuring large illuminated lettering signage. The north-west corner is chamfered on the ground floor with an intersecting flat-roofed porch added in recent years.

The principal elevation faces north and is eleven window openings wide, symmetrically arranged in three sections each framed by a zig-zag motif. The central section has wider windows divided by mullions. The centre of the eaves cornice is surmounted by a simple ornamental feature containing scrolled brackets and an anthemion peak. The sections either side of centre each comprise five openings wide and are topped by an Art Deco panel depicting their corresponding commercial trademark; the left side features 'WOOLWORTH'S' and the right contains 'BURTON BUILDINGS'.

The east elevation comprises three principal blocks. The smooth rendered far right block is abutted by an adjoining terrace with a narrow passage running parallel to the elevation. The middle block is set back; the walling is generally red-brick with bifurcated windows in projecting painted surrounds symmetrically arranged. Similar windows appear across the upper three floors of the left block, which is ruled and lined rendered and painted at ground floor. This block contains a doorway and four blocked wide-openings over a continuous plinth, which were formerly windows.

The view of the south elevation is obstructed by neighbouring buildings but comprises red-brick walls laid to English bond. The right side is abutted by a multi-storey red-brick extension comprising linear flat-roofed blocks extending to a tertiary façade on Ann Street. This concrete-faced elevation is five-and-a-half storeys high with symmetrically arranged metal-frame windows over a modern glazed shop front.

The west elevation is similarly detailed to the north. The left section is five openings wide with 'BURTON BUILDINGS' over centre. The middle section is three openings wide with bipartite windows. The far-right proportion matches this but is angled slightly toward the south-east.

The building is located within the commercial core of Belfast on a prominent corner site. Its setting and large scale ensure it dominates this corner, particularly when viewed from Castle Place. The primary elevations directly line the southern side of High Street and the eastern side of Cornmarket. The extension to the rear provides secondary access from Ann Street to the south, while the left side of the rear elevation is abutted by a lower terrace of late 20th century commercial buildings. The narrow passage of Crown Entry links High Street to Ann Street, and the east elevation of the building forms the western side of this alleyway.