Admin.,Teaching,Resid. And Recreat.Bldgs. At Magee University College, Lower Northland Road, Londonderry, (Dill House-Demolished)

ME Block, Magee University College Campus, Lower Northland Road, Londonderry

This detached, asymmetrical red brick building was constructed around 1911 to designs by Robinson & Davidson, a local architectural partnership formed between James M. C. Robinson and John Adam Davidson in 1909 — making this one of the firm's earliest commissions. It was originally built as a professor's house and stands at the north entrance to the Magee University Campus, on a corner site at the junction of Rock Road and Northland Road. It is now used as offices by the University of Ulster.

Architectural Character and Appearance

The building is three bays wide and two storeys tall with an attic, irregular on plan, and faces east. Although built later than the main campus buildings, it was consciously designed to complement the High Victorian MA and MB Blocks by Young & Mackenzie, sharing their red brick and red sandstone detailing. It also has much in common with the MD Block on the opposite side of the main neo-Gothic college building on College Avenue. Dutch-style gabled dormers suggest a Queen Anne influence, while the angled (cogging) brick courses, basket-arched lintels and tall profiled chimney stacks reflect the handcrafted aesthetic associated with the Arts and Crafts movement. Overall the building remains well proportioned despite later institutional additions.

Roofs and Rainwater Goods

The roofs are hipped and covered in natural slate, with roll-moulded terracotta ridge tiles and lead valleys. There are four tall corbelled red brick chimney stacks with terracotta pots. The dormer windows to the front and rear have hipped roofs with lead-lined cheeks and paired 2/1 sliding sash windows set within timber-framed hipped dormers. Rainwater is carried by moulded replacement steel guttering supported on a projecting red sandstone eaves course, with two angled (cogging) brick courses below it, and steel downpipes.

Walls and Windows

The walling is machine-cut red brick with original pointing, laid in Flemish bond. There is a projecting plinth course, a red sandstone platband, and an angled (cogging) brick course between the floors. Windows are generally square-headed with flush red sandstone basket-arched lintels and red sandstone sills. Most windows are original 2/1 timber sash windows with ogee horns and historic glass.

East Front Elevation

The east-facing principal elevation is three bays wide. To the left is a full-height three-sided canted bay window; to the right is a full-height rectangular-plan bay window; and in the centre is a single recessed bay abutted by a lean-to entrance porch. Both bay windows have decorative wall-head dormer windows that break through the eaves, with decorative curvilinear gablets surmounted by ball finials. The recessed entrance bay contains an original tripartite timber casement window. The entrance porch has a single window and a square-headed door opening fitted with a replacement timber panelled and glazed door. The door opens onto a concrete-paved platform with five steps; a universal access ramp with steel balustrade lies to the left.

South Elevation

The south side elevation is two bays wide, with a full-height three-sided canted bay window to the left. To the right, a tall chimney stack rises with a corbelled-out vertical projection in angled brick.

West Rear Elevation

The west rear elevation has a full-height projection to the left, a three-storey stair tower to the centre — the upper portion of which was extended from an earlier lean-to at eaves height to the main building — and an external steel fire escape. The right-hand side of this elevation is abutted by a lean-to single-storey extension with a glazed entrance bay to the south.

North Elevation

The north side elevation, which fronts onto Rock Road, has randomly-placed windows with a dormer window to the right and a central Dutch-style wall-head dormer window, detailed in the same manner as the dormers on the east elevation. A tall red brick chimney stack with the same vertically profiled angled brickwork rises from the left of this elevation. A coat of arms plaque is surface-mounted to the right-hand side, alongside chrome-plated lettering reading "UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER".

Interior

The interior has been modernised, and glazed fire screens detract from its character to some extent. However, the original plan form survives along with a good amount of historic detailing, most notably the richly decorative staircase.

Setting

The building sits on a corner site between Rock Road and Northland Road. The front elevation opens onto College Avenue, which leads to the main campus building. To the rear is a small yard enclosed by tall red brick walls — with a curved portion at the change in height — moulded terracotta coping, and a small red brick shed. The west boundary of the site is enclosed by a rubble schist stone wall with concrete coping. The enclosed yard further enhances the quality of the building's setting.

Historical Background

Magee College was established following a bequest of over £20,000 by Martha Maria Magee upon her death in 1846, intended for the Presbyterian General Assembly to build a college in Ulster for men training for the Presbyterian ministry. Political disputes and construction delays meant the college did not open until 1865. Londonderry was selected as the site in 1853, and an architectural competition was held. Dublin-based architect Edward P. Gribbon's Gothic design was chosen, and the foundation stone was laid on 18th August 1856. The original brief had called for eight professors' houses alongside the college building, but these were abandoned due to budgetary constraints.

In its early years the college had very few students — only eight were enrolled in 1874. In 1879 Magee became a constituent college of the Royal University of Ireland, which led to increased enrolment, including the admission of women students from 1883. The first professors' houses were eventually erected during the 1880s and 1890s along what became known as College Avenue.

This particular professor's house, at the corner of Northland Road and Rock Road, was constructed in 1911 using a bequest from Basil McCrea, who left his entire estate to the college trustees following his death in 1907. Robinson & Davidson replicated the designs of Young & Mackenzie and W. A. Barker for the earlier residences but built this house on a smaller scale. The firm also designed a gate lodge on the site, which has since been demolished. Upon completion, the Annual Revisions set the rateable value of the house at £54, and its first occupant was recorded as Alexander Larmour, Professor of Natural Philosophy. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936–57) the value was increased to £65 and the house was occupied by a Professor Robinson.

During the Second World War, buildings at Magee College were requisitioned, and the professors' houses were used as classrooms while remaining students were taught at the Model College on the Northland Road. After the war the houses returned to residential use, though by the 1950s not all remained occupied. Following the recommendations of the Acheson Report in 1950, some were converted into student residences. By the time of the Second Revaluation (1956–72), the buildings were in use as administration and teaching blocks as well as residential units. This building at the corner of Northland Road and Rock Road was converted into an administration block. The red brick buildings along College Avenue were listed in 1976 and included in the Magee Conservation Area in 2006.

Group Value

The ME Block shares group value with a wealth of 19th-century structures dispersed throughout the campus that contribute significant interest to the Magee Conservation Area.