22 Waterloo Place, Londonderry, County Londonderry, BT48 6BU

22 Waterloo Place — Former Northern Counties Hotel, Londonderry

This is the former Northern Counties Hotel, a symmetrical red-brick building of four storeys with a dormer attic, built between 1898 and 1899 in an exuberant High Victorian style. It was designed by Alfred Forman, an Australian architect who travelled to Ireland in 1897 and settled in Londonderry around 1899, spending approximately five years in the city before returning to Australia. During this period Forman was also responsible for the Northern Counties Club on Bishop Street and Carlisle Road Methodist Church. The hotel was built for Mrs Mary Gibson, who had previously operated the neighbouring Northern Hotel on Magazine Street — that earlier building was demolished around 1901. The building stands on the corner of Custom House Street, looking onto Shipquay Place within the civic setting of Waterloo Place, with the historic city walls as a backdrop. It occupies a pedestrianised portion of the city centre and the public space of Waterloo Place itself was first laid out in the early 19th century, appearing on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1830.

The principal elevation faces south in red brick and render, with two projecting high gable ends and an extravagant two-storey, five-bay colonnaded façade. Pedestalled columns rise to support five semi-circular arches, forming a carriage porch arcade — the porte-cochere — with a balustraded balcony above, flanked by the gable ends. The south elevation gable ends have two-storey pedimented canted bay windows, with five pedimented dormer windows projecting above the roofline. The ground floor has traditional remodelled shopfronts with a central doorway set in a round-headed archway and a projecting ironwork canopy. A smaller return wing fronts onto Custom House Street, with a single-bay arcade between high end gables to the east elevation. The north elevation overlooks a shared courtyard leading to Custom House Street, where a modern extension has been added. On this elevation there is a square-headed timber panelled side door with a fanlight above, a round-headed modern window to the left of the door, a pair of 1-over-1 sliding sash timber windows at first-floor level, and single 1-over-1 timber sliding sash windows at second and third-floor levels. The roof is a hipped form with a flat-roof extension to the north-east end, six red-brick chimneystacks, and cast-iron rainwater goods throughout. Roofing materials are natural slate with leadwork.

In 1901 the hotel was valued at £414. One of the four ground-floor retail units was occupied by the offices of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company, and the valuer noted that all four units possessed cellars. The building's value was increased to £464 following cancellation of the Annual Revisions in 1931. After Mary Gibson's death in 1926, ownership passed to George Maxwell. By the First Revaluation in 1935 the total value of the building, including the retail units, had risen to £629, and by the end of the Second Revaluation period (1956–72) it had increased further to £1,072. The upper floors continued to operate as a hotel until the 1970s.

During the Troubles, Waterloo Place was the site of frequent protests, riots and explosions. The Northern Counties Hotel suffered a number of bomb blasts, which damaged its external detailing and destroyed much of the ornamental detail and the iron porte-cochere. The hotel was subsequently closed and converted into office space, and fell into an advanced state of disrepair over the following three decades. The building was listed in 1979. In 2002 the Townscape Heritage Initiative approached the current owner with plans for restoration.

The restoration, completed in 2009 under Tracey Architects of Derry, involved retention of the historic facades facing Waterloo Place and Custom House Street, the construction of a modern three-storey rear return, and the reinstallation of the iron porte-cochere. Refurbishment works included repair and re-pointing of brickwork, external render repairs, reinstatement and repair of architectural detailing including shopfronts, re-roofing with renewal of slate and leadwork along with repairs to the timber structure, and repair and replacement of windows with replacement timber sliding sash windows and replacement timber doors. Writing in 2013, Calley described the building as being in very good condition having been restored and brought back from near destruction, and noted that the owner and all those who encouraged its preservation are to be greatly congratulated.