13A Little James St., Londonderry

13A Little James Street, Londonderry

A five-storey brick factory building erected 1897-98 for Messrs Hogg & Mitchell to designs by architect William A. Barker. Originally extending south to Sackville Street, the building has been substantially altered: the southern section was demolished and replaced by a modern multi-storey apartment block. The remaining structure, which runs east-west along the south side of Great James Street at its junction with Little James Street, has been converted to apartments now branded as Hogg & Mitchell Apartments.

The building is topped with a hipped roof of artificial slate, fitted with skylights and bordered by ogee metal gutters and downpipes. The exterior combines red brick walls with rendered sections throughout.

The principal elevation faces north onto Great Patrick Street. The ground floor is divided into six sections by fluted stucco pilasters with Corinthian capitals. Five sections contain shop fronts, each featuring an entrance door and large window fitted with roller shutters. The fourth section from the left serves as the apartment entrance, containing three glazed doors set within a modern polished granite surround and protected by decorative wrought ironwork. A moulded cornice runs above the shop fronts, supporting small planters.

The upper four floors each contain 18 regularly-spaced window openings grouped into threes by banded stucco pilasters terminating in fluted capitals at eaves level. Stucco quoins with similar detailing mark each end of the elevation. The storeys are divided by stucco entablatures featuring geometric motifs, positioned directly beneath the window cills. All windows are 1x4-paned double-glazed uPVC replacements set within moulded brick jambs with shallow segmental heads. All but the top-floor windows have advanced painted keystones. The eaves cornice is moulded stucco, enlivened by dentilated capitals atop the brick piers between the top-floor windows. The top-floor windows are slightly diminished in size compared to those below.

The east elevation has a rendered ground floor containing two flat-headed doorways (the left one serving as a fire escape). Its upper floors each have three window openings detailed identically to the main façade.

The west elevation is slightly wider than the east end, measuring six openings across and divided into three pairs by stucco pilasters. The ground floor has three pairs of large shop-front windows; the upper floors each contain three pairs of 1x4 windows. All detailing matches the front façade. A raised fire gable at the south end separates this elevation from a modern six-storey brick apartment block extending along Little Patrick Street.

The south (rear) elevation is abutted on its left by the modern apartment block's rendered rear wall. The exposed original section is nine openings wide and rendered throughout in cement. Its upper-floor windows are 1x4-paned with shallow segmental heads and concrete cills.

The building sits within a commercial streetscape with shops directly opposite and lining the narrow lane to the east. A Post Office sorting office stands on the west side of Little Patrick Street. A vacant yard occupies the rear, with Sackville Street beyond.