Old Foyle College, Aka Foyle Arts Centre, Strand Road, Londonderry

Old Foyle College

This is a classical-style stone building erected between 1809 and 1814 to designs by J. Bowden. It comprises five bays arranged as a three-storey central block flanked by two two-storey slightly projecting wings, with a basement throughout. The building sits on an elevated site on the north-west side of Strand Road, overlooking the River Foyle. Its principal south-east elevation faces down towards Cranagh Terrace, accessed via a short flight of steps centred on a high rough-cast rendered wall. A bitumac car park occupies the eastern side of the property; the western and rear areas are set within substantial grounds with mature trees of varying species.

The building replaced the earlier Free (Grammar) School of 1617. Foyle College remains the city's earliest surviving educational institution and continues in educational use as part of the Magee University Campus.

The principal south-east elevation is built of course-squared local schist with Giffnock sandstone band-courses spanning the full width. The three-storey central block features projecting cornices, semicircular arch-headed windows on the ground floor, and square-headed windows on the upper storeys, all with stone voussoirs. A continuous stone sill-course runs across the first-floor windows; second-floor windows are diminished in scale, sitting on sandstone sills. Each flanking wing is of Giffnock sandstone with one-bay linking ranges. The side bays contain a ground-floor tripartite timber sliding sash divided by stone mullions with scroll brackets, topped by a 6/6 timber sliding sash above, all set within a segmental arched recess beneath a pedimented gable. The linking ranges feature square-headed doorways with projecting cornices over pairs of half-leaf diamond-faced panelled doors with glazed top panes and integrated side lights, and a semicircular fanlight above. A single 6/6 timber sliding sash sits above each doorway.

The hipped roof is covered in Welsh slate with deep overhanging eaves to the central three-storey block and stone copings to the gabled side bays. The central block features terracotta clay ridge tiles and a large stone chimney stack with stepped cornice and six octagonal-shaped clay pots (one missing) on the north-west side. Half-round cast-iron guttering discharges to circular painted cast-iron downpipes throughout.

The south-west elevation is of painted rough-cast render, six bays wide, set behind a low schist wall with metal railings above. The basement level contains segmental arched windows and square-headed door openings, accessed via stone steps from the south-east side. The ground floor has a concrete open link leading to a pair of metal fire doors with a 9-pane transom light above, three square-headed window bays to the left and two to the right, all 6/6 timber sliding sashes aligned with first-floor windows above. Two unpainted rendered chimney stacks are centred on the ridge of the pitched slate roof, each with stepped cornices and octagonal-shaped buff clay pots.

The north-west rear elevation is of local schist with red-brick dressings to window surrounds. It comprises four gable-ends facing north-west with a three-storey block to the left side merged between two gable-end returns. The three-storey block features a large modern flat-roof extension at ground-floor level with rendered and glazed front and a pair of large metal automatic sensored doors to the left side. The fenestration is irregular throughout, with square-headed and semicircular arched 6/6 and 6/3 timber sashes and coupled 6/6 timber sliding sash windows.

The north-east elevation is of painted rough-cast render with entrance doorways on ground and first-floor levels at the far right side, accessed via external metal steps. The ground floor contains a pair of half-leaf panelled timber doors with a 9-pane transom light above. The ground floor has four bays; the first floor consists of five bays aligned below, with 6/6 timber sliding sashes that diminish in scale at first-floor level. The roof is a natural slate pitch with two modern roof lights and a red-brick chimney stack to the north-west gable-end. The basement is accessed via a concrete ramp from the south-east side, containing a mix of three square-headed and segmental arch-headed blind bays, a large square-headed doorway with a single-pane transom light, and a segmental arched window to the left (south-east) side with a 6/6 timber sliding sash.