Furnace House, Clarendon Buildings, Clarendon Quay, Belfast, Co Antrim, BT1 3AL

Furnace House, Clarendon Quay, Belfast

This is the former furnace house at Clarendon Dock, Belfast, designed by the Scottish architect David Logan and constructed between 1825 and 1826. It forms part of the earliest surviving graving dock complex at Belfast Harbour — a group of structures of exceptional historical significance as the foundation of shipbuilding in the city. The building has been restored and now serves as office accommodation, and retains much of its historic fabric and detailing.

Historical Background

Shipbuilding had been carried out on the west bank of the River Lagan for several decades before William Ritchie (1756–1834), a native of Ayrshire in Scotland, was invited to Belfast in 1791 and established the city's first major shipbuilding enterprise together with his brother Hugh. In 1796 the Belfast Ballast Board commissioned Ritchie to construct a graving dock on land granted by the Marquis of Donegall; No. 1 graving dock was completed in 1800 after four years of work. No. 2 graving dock followed to the north in 1826, built slightly longer, deeper, and with steeper sides than the first — reflecting advances in shipbuilding technology over the intervening years.

The furnace house was constructed at the same time as No. 2 graving dock, in 1825–26, and was designed by David Logan (died c. 1839), a Scottish architect who had been appointed resident engineer at Donaghadee Harbour and was engaged by the Ballast Board in 1823. The building originally housed the furnace and pitch storage for the dock's tar boiler, while the adjacent engine house contained machinery designed to force water in and out of both dry docks.

The Clarendon Dock buildings first appeared on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1832–33, recorded before the construction of the Clarendon wet dock, which was completed in 1851. The second edition map of 1858 showed the site after completion of the wet dock, with the building captioned as 'Engine Ho[use]'. Griffith's Valuation of 1860 recorded the buildings in a single joint valuation covering a gate lodge, offices, deputy harbour master's house, workshops, stores, graving dock, and yard, at a combined value of £800. Between 1861 and 1882 the group was divided into two valuations; by 1902, the value of the relevant group had risen from £357 to £437 following the addition of a workshop from a neighbouring former feltworks.

By the time architectural historian Paul Larmour was writing in 1987, the buildings had fallen out of use and were closed. He noted that they and their related dry docks constituted 'a very important survival from the early days of the port of Belfast'. In 1989, the Laganside Development Corporation was charged with regenerating a stretch of the River Lagan from the Albert Bridge to the Abercorn Basin, and the subsequent restoration of the Clarendon Dock complex has been described as having revitalised the former dockland into one of Europe's most successful waterfront redevelopments. The furnace house was originally listed at Category A in 1975 as part of the group; at the time of the listing record it was vacant. A small modern pump house was constructed to the south-east of the former basalt engine house in the late 19th century and continues to serve No. 2 graving dock, which remains in use.

The Clarendon graving docks and associated buildings are the last surviving remnants of the Georgian shipbuilding complex that once extended along the County Antrim side of the River Lagan, and represent the origins of the late 18th century port that contributed significantly to the growth and development of Belfast as an industrial city.

Architectural Description

The furnace house is a symmetrical, single-storey, three-bay building, rectangular on plan, dating from the early 19th century. The roof is a pitched natural slate roof with a leaded ridge, stone verges, and red brick chimneystacks fitted with replacement terracotta pots. Half-round cast iron rainwater goods are carried on a stepped ashlar sandstone eaves course. There is a French drain around the perimeter.

The walls are of coursed random rubble blackstone bedded in lime mortar, with a tooled ashlar sandstone plinth and feather-edged dressings; some snecking is visible on the north gable, and replacement sandstone has been used in places. Windows are replacement timber double-glazed sashes with projecting cills.

The symmetrical east elevation has a central replacement sheeted timber door in a sandstone block surround, with paired windows to the outer bays, all set in tooled sandstone block surrounds. The south gable features a simple pedimented gable and a single window, formerly a door opening, infilled beneath the cill with timber apron panelling and a stone cill insertion. The symmetrical west elevation has a central double-leaf door opening with paired windows to the outer bays.

Setting

The furnace house sits directly to the west of the original pump house and the two graving docks on Clarendon Dock, with access to Belfast Lough to the east. The Harbour Office is located a short distance to the south. The surrounding area has been subject to substantial late 20th century public realm works, and the complex is now set on a paved terrace with contemporary office developments to the north, a public sculpture entitled Dividers by Vivien Burnside to the east, and car parking to the west. Vehicular access is from Corporation Street and pedestrian access from Donegall Quay.