17 Waterside, Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, BT51 3DP

17 Waterside is a three-storey terraced building with basement, constructed around 1847 to 1854 as part of a phased redevelopment of the Waterside area of Coleraine. The design was overseen by Samuel Angell, the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers' surveyor in Ulster, working alongside surveyor Stewart Gordon. It forms part of a largely homogeneous Georgian-style terrace on the western side of the River Bann, presenting one of the few coherent historic street facades remaining in the town. The building has group value with the other listed buildings in the terrace.

The building is two bays wide and rendered throughout. The pitched slate roof has blue-grey angled ridge tiles, a brick chimney stack with multiple terracotta pots, and ogee-profile cast-iron rainwater goods mounted on a plain timber fascia to boxed eaves. The external walling is finished in ruled-and-lined render, unpainted to the principal elevation and smooth render to the rear. Windows are square-headed two-over-two timber sash units with projecting moulded architraves and sills; the projecting sills are continuous across both first-floor windows. The principal elevation faces south and has two windows to each of the upper floors. The entire ground floor is occupied by a 20th-century timber-and-glazed shopfront of no architectural interest, with a plain rendered expanse above the fascia. The west elevation abuts the adjoining terrace, and the east elevation similarly abuts its neighbour on that side. A limited inspection of the north rear elevation reveals a flat-roofed single-storey return at ground floor level, with a modern plain timber door to the left, a modern fire-escape stair above, two uPVC windows above to the left, and a modified opening with a modern door and plain glass transom to the right with a further escape stair abutting. The view of the rear elevation is largely obstructed by neighbouring buildings to the north.

The building is representative of the traditional urban form of living accommodation over a shop. Its plain, balanced, and unembellished character reflects a conscious decision by the Clothworkers' Company to avoid the excessive ornamentation adopted by other London livery companies during their widespread programme of architectural improvement during the same period, as noted by the architectural historian James Curl. The integrity of the upper floors has been largely retained, though incremental alterations to the ground-floor shopfront over the decades have eroded some historic fabric.

The area known as Waterside forms part of Killowen Parish and was originally a suburb of Coleraine, situated on the western bank of the River Bann to the west of the central Diamond. It had long been under the ownership of the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers, one of the London Merchant Companies charged with developing and settling the county of Londonderry during the early 17th century. The Company had historically leased out these lands, often to absentee landlords, which led to a general decline of the estate and a lack of new building due to the uncertainty of tenures. When the lease expired in 1840, the Company regained direct control and embarked on a substantial programme of improvement, including expenditure on buildings, infrastructure, and education. Around 1844 a new bridge of increased height was built to replace a previous timber structure dating from around 1735, and stabilising works were carried out to the western river embankment. The raising of street levels on the Killowen side to align with the new bridge significantly affected the existing buildings in the area. Rather than repair or adapt what stood, it was considered more appropriate to demolish and entirely rebuild Waterside, creating a more dignified approach into the Company's estate from the main part of Coleraine to the east.

The neighbouring Clothworkers' Arms Hotel, constructed around 1846, marked the first stage of the new development and established the architectural tone and rigour to which the new terrace was required to conform. Demolition of the adjoining houses commenced in 1847. Angell designed the new terrace to complement the hotel and to line what amounted to a near-processional approach into the Clothworkers' estate via the new bridge. Although the designs for individual buildings were largely generated by other architects, each was strictly regulated by Angell and Stewart Gordon to conform to the overall scheme. The general layout of Waterside had already been established before the redevelopment began, so the terrace did not change substantially in plan; rather, it was the design, scale, and stylistic discipline of the new buildings that distinguished the rebuilt street. The terrace is first shown on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1849 to 1850, replacing an earlier street of similarly planned buildings with extensive outbuildings to the rear, as shown on the first edition map of 1830. The Clothworkers' Company reportedly spent approximately £4,000 on the erection of houses in the Waterside area during this period.

No. 17 was first occupied by Margaret Paul and was valued at £24 in Griffith's Valuation of 1856, at which time the property remained under the ownership of the Clothworkers' Company. Ownership transferred to Sir Hervey Bruce around 1868 and subsequently to John McNeill in 1929, with the valuation remaining unchanged. The building was occupied by James Clarke in 1873, and by 1895 James Warren was operating a grocer's shop on the ground floor, as confirmed by census records from 1901 and 1911. The outline of the building has changed little since it appears on the Town Plan map of 1882, with the exception of a flat-roofed extension added in the latter half of the 20th century. The previous yard and small outbuildings to the rear were also replaced around the same period by a large modern factory building.

The building sits in an urban setting with its principal south-facing elevation directly fronting one of the main routes into Coleraine town centre via the nearby Old Bridge. A related terrace of listed buildings stands on the opposite side of the street to the south.