13 College Gardens, Belfast

13 College Gardens, Belfast

A mid-terrace three-storey town house over basement, built in 1877 in red brick, of late Victorian character. The architect is unknown. The building forms part of a block of four (including numbers 11, 12 and 14 College Gardens), which is largely symmetrical to its front elevation, with number 12 mirrored by number 13, while the wider properties at the gable ends provide balance. The street is tree-lined, running from Malone Road to Lisburn Road, and lies within the Queens Conservation Area. The buildings face south and overlook the grounds of Methodist College.

The roof is laid with natural slate and fitted with black clay ridge tiles. A replacement red brick chimney with concrete base, centred on the ridge of the main roof, carries multiple circular buff and red clay pots shared with number 14. Projecting moulded eaves rest on a plain frieze band between moulded string courses. A wide duo-pitched dormer with twin round-arched windows is centred at the front of the roof above the cornice and appears contemporary with the rear extension, dating to around 2000. A further dormer and modern skylight are present on the rear slope.

The walls are constructed of red brick in Flemish bond with painted dressings to the south, and English Garden Wall bond to the north. The windows are double-glazed replacement timber-framed sliding sashes with 1/1 panes to the south elevation; timber-framed casements with top hung openings serve the dormer and rear extension. The rainwater goods are cast metal, replacement where visible.

The south-facing front elevation is asymmetrical at ground floor level. The entrance is positioned to the right (east), with a single-storey canted bay to the left. A dark painted render base plinth with moulded and chamfered top supports the walls above. The canted bay and door surround are finished in smooth stucco, each carrying a projecting moulded cornice depicting foliage, all painted. The bay has stop-chamfered heads and jambs to the ground floor windows, with heavy bull-nosed cills set within the reveal and a serrated edge to the plain frieze below the cornice. A shallow parapet rises above a flat roof.

The entrance comprises a square-headed timber-framed door with twin round-arched raised panels and bolection moulding. A plain glass fanlight sits above a deep moulded transom. Moulded bases flank the surround, with roll-edged reveal, a raised keystone, and carved stone spandrels below the cornice, all painted. The door opens onto a broad platform reached by two stone steps with bull-nosed edges; a cast iron boot-scraper is positioned to the right of the threshold.

The upper storeys are predominantly red brick, with projecting moulded stucco or stone string courses, painted, at first and second floor cill levels. Segmental arched window openings are provided at each upper level, two per storey and equally spaced, each with moulded stucco surrounds and projecting hoods at first floor level and lugged details at second floor level.

The rear elevation to the north is largely obscured by a substantial red brick L-shaped extension built around 2001 at half-landing level, which spans the full width of the site and extends to the rear boundary. This extension is of little historic interest. A small part of the original building is visible in the gap between extensions serving numbers 13 and 14, revealing red brick matching that of the front elevation, laid in English Garden Wall bond. The east and west elevations are abutted by the adjoining buildings at numbers 12 and 14 respectively.

The building is set back from the tree-lined street behind a parking area, enclosed by modern metal fencing. A small garden with a young tree and hedge sits immediately adjacent to the bay window. Low painted brick walls flank the stone entrance steps. Hit-and-miss timber fencing aligns the boundary with number 12, while mature hedging borders the opposite side towards number 14. The northern boundary is aligned by the extension.

The building is subdivided into self-contained apartments.