Ardhowen Theatre, 97 Dublin Road, Enniskillen Co Fermanagh, BT74 6FZ

Ardhowen Theatre, Derrychara, Enniskillen

The Ardhowen Theatre is a civic theatre complex situated in Derrychara (Irish: 'Oak-wood of the weir'), a small townland approximately one mile south of Enniskillen town centre, occupying a pastoral setting on the north bank of the River Erne between the water and the Dublin Road, directly west of Castle Coole. The complex brings together two architecturally distinct but conjoined elements: a three-bay, two-and-a-half-storey Edwardian house of circa 1901–10, and a substantial glazed theatre auditorium extension connected to it by a link block to the west, constructed in 1984–86. A former coach house to the rear (north) is also integrated into the complex around a rear courtyard, now housing backstage facilities and plant, with a boiler house extension in matching style added to its east. The original house has additionally been extended to the east with a single-storey studio finished in a style matching the original building. The complex is listed in its entirety, including the stone pillars to the rear yard.

Historical Background

The site has a recorded history stretching back before 1835, when a small house or houses with an orchard stood just north of the present building's location, though these had been cleared before 1857. Around 1907, a five-acre plot in the south-eastern corner of the townland — situated just north of the Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties railway line of 1877–79 — was acquired by Charles McDonagh, an Enniskillen-based draper. In preparation for his marriage to Agnes Elizabeth Keane in September 1911, he built 'Ardhowen House' in or just prior to that year, though the architect's identity is not known. McDonagh died in 1958, and in July 1960 the property, described at the time as 'one of the finest of its type in the country', was purchased by Enniskillen Rural Council for £9,000. The house was subsequently converted to offices to designs by W.D.R. and R.T. Taggart of Belfast, a process that included a western extension, and the building was in use as 'Ardhowen Local Government Offices' by at least December 1962.

The early 1970s brought significant turbulence. In March 1970 the building was invaded by ten civil rights demonstrators; the following month saw scuffles between a larger group of similar protesters and a crowd of 'Paisleyites'; later that year the offices suffered an arson attack, and in November were damaged in an explosion which blew out the windows. By 1974, the growing threat of car bombs led to the car park being moved 200 yards further from the building, although couples getting married there were permitted to drive to the door.

The transformation of Ardhowen into a performance venue owed much to the enthusiasm of Enniskillen Town Clerk Gerry Burns. The project was formally adopted by Fermanagh District Council in or shortly before 1978, though its realisation proved long and difficult, ultimately saved by a European Community grant for 'wet weather facilities' in border areas and a scaling-down of the proposed auditorium's capacity. By late 1983, the firm of McCormick, Tracey and Mullarkey had been commissioned to design the theatre on the Ardhowen site, with Tom Mullarkey as Project Architect. Construction commenced in September 1984. The main contractors were G.W.T. Group of Belleek; a notable sub-contractor was curtain-walling specialist Stan Billings, who had previously been consulted by internationally renowned architect Richard Rogers, amongst others, on other buildings. Billings was responsible for the purpose-designed curtain walling, considered an innovatory feature of the extension. The theatre opened officially in May 1986 at a total cost of £1.5 million, with financial assistance from Fermanagh District Council and the Departments of Education, Economic Development and Agriculture.

The building received wide critical acclaim. Described by Ulster Architect as 'an architectural treat', it received the magazine's Building of the Year Award in 1987, an RIBA National Award, a Civic Trust Award, and an RIAI Commendation in 1988. Writing for The Guardian, architectural correspondent Martin Pawley called it 'an immense creative achievement' that 'rises to all of the challenges', praised its innovative public areas including the unrestricted view into the performers' Green Room, the deftly designed auditorium with its perimeter aisles running down the rake of seats to meet the stage at its own level — permitting a rare interaction between performers and audience — and singled out the 'double-decked foyer, its floors floating free of the glazing, and its twin staircases affording spectacular views of the lough' as the mark of excellence in Mullarkey's achievement. Taking inspiration from the low foyer of the UN Building in New York, he compared the glazed theatre portion to 'a vastly expanded conservatory that still contrives to relate creatively to its parent dwelling house'. He concluded: 'At a time when architects are under attack for their apparent inability to contribute anything useful to the environment, an achievement like Mullarkey's, that actually enhances its spectacular site and serves a valuable social function in a society torn by prejudice and violence, must be set on the credit side of the ledger. Ardhowen Community Theatre was the finest example of positive, creative architecture that I saw on my travels.' The RIBA Jury felt it was a structure 'which delights all who are involved with it. To have done this in the face of budgetary control is remarkable. Their skill and wit have made the building a perfect setting for a warm contribution to the cultural life of the area.'

Tom Mullarkey spent part of his early career in the offices of Marcel Breuer in New York, and the theatre extension may be one of the very few Bauhaus-influenced buildings in Northern Ireland, in terms of its functionality and materials. In keeping with Bauhaus aspirations, the design unifies the principles of mass production with individual artistic vision, striving to combine aesthetics with everyday function, and exhibits rectangular features, chunky railings, and a long bank of windows. The theatre is considered rare as one of only a small number of new theatres built in Northern Ireland in the latter half of the 20th century, and is of significant social interest having served as a civic arts centre for the south-west region for over thirty years. At the time of the listing survey in January 2022, a major refurbishment was planned for completion in 2024.

The Edwardian House — Exterior

The original Edwardian house presents a symmetrical and well-proportioned principal elevation facing south. Its hipped roof is covered in natural Welsh slate with terracotta ridge and hip tiles and is U-shaped in plan around a flat-roofed centre. The roof carries dormer windows with hipped roofs and leaded cheeks, and three painted and rendered chimney stacks with moulded cornice caps. The rainwater goods are original cast iron on overhanging sheeted eaves, with the original cast iron guttering restored in January 2022.

The walls are finished in painted roughcast render with smooth soldiered quoins. Window surrounds, the ground floor bay windows and the entrance porch are distinguished by painted smooth render. Windows are generally one-over-one timber sliding sashes set in square-headed openings, with variation on the principal elevation where camber-headed openings appear at first floor and round-headed central window openings in the ground floor bays. All windows noted are single-glazed throughout.

On the ground floor of the principal (south) elevation, two canted bays each contain three windows: a round-headed central window flanked by a square-headed window on either cant, together with a projecting moulded stringcourse, cill and plinth. A flat-roofed porch spans across both bays and the entrance between them. Two square painted rendered columns with moulded pedestals and capitals rise from a platform reached by three concrete steps, providing central support to the porch roof and defining the porch entrance. The central door is double-leafed timber panelled with a plain glass fanlight above. At first floor, paired windows sit above each bay, contrasting with a taller central door with single glazed panel. At roof level there are three twelve-paned side-hung timber dormer windows, repaired in December 2021 and January 2022. At the time of survey, a temporary wooden shelter structure had been erected in front of the main entrance during guttering refurbishment works.

The original east elevation retains two dormer and first-floor windows aligned vertically, matching the principal elevation. The one remaining ground-floor timber window, exposed on the left side, has three one-over-one sliding sashes within a painted moulded surround with moulded cornice above. Abutting this elevation is the single-storey flat-roofed studio extension, which has a chamfered east corner, five pairs of camber-headed window openings each containing timber one-over-one sliding sashes, and a parapet roof rising above a moulded cornice and projecting masonry cill.

The rear (north) elevation is asymmetrical, with the U-shaped roof plan expressed through to ground level in a two-storey projection on the western side. This projection has a single central dormer window above first and ground floor windows in an asymmetrical arrangement, and forms a return in plan which, at ground floor level, is infilled beneath a slated mono-pitch roof to create a porch. The porch contains two eight-over-one timber sliding-sash windows and a door in sheeted timber with eight glazed upper panes. At the time of survey, a temporary wooden shelter had also been erected here during guttering works. Above the porch, the asymmetrical composition continues with paired timber casements within a moulded surround alongside a taller one-over-one timber sliding-sash window on the right side in a moulded surround. The rear elevation gives onto the rear courtyard and the former coach house, which is walled and roofed in the same manner as the main house and has been extended by a boiler house in matching style.

The Edwardian House — Interior

The house retains much of its original floor plan, though internal alterations have been carried out in connection with its conversion to civic offices and it remains in use primarily for administration. Original decorative elements of historic interest that survive include 'Lincrusta' walling around the central stairwell, decorative plaster wall cornicing depicting festoons and wreaths, original joinery including a timber staircase, and several original Edwardian fireplaces.

The Theatre Extension — Exterior

The theatre auditorium extension, which is the centrepiece of the complex, extends westward from the original house. Its principal south elevation is a two-storey wall of curtain glazing: vertical glazed panels, with their verticality further emphasised by a minimal seamless silicone joint at mid-height, are set between aluminium vertical members of accentuated thinness on a supporting steel frame. The structure combines a concrete frame with a secondary steel frame supporting the fully glazed curtain walling of vertical strips, maximising views over the Ardhowen Jetty and the River Erne, and towards the remaining sections of the old stone railway bridge structure. At second-floor ceiling level the glazing cants back; over the entrance link this terminates in a flat roof, but above the main auditorium it transitions to a hipped slate roof that continues to rise and terminate in a flat roof, with a ridge line of similar height to that of the Edwardian house. The steel eaves line at the transition and termination of the glazing runs consistently through at the same level as the eaves of the original house, creating a feeling of considered proportion and marking an effective extension of that eaves line.

The continuity of the glazing is singularly broken by a masonry entrance portico that is a storey and a half high, finished in painted render and detailed consistently with the earlier house. Two slate-clad ventilators also protrude dormer-like to break the continuity of the slate-clad roof. The auditorium block is canted on both corners and sits forward from the line of the Edwardian house and entrance link.

The west elevation, apart from the return of the canted glazed corner at the southern end, is finished monolithically in vertically hung natural Penryn Welsh slate, which transitions seamlessly into the pitch of the roof. The only interruptions are a contrasting green ground floor auditorium escape door, a first-floor escape door, and a steel spiral staircase. The rear (north) elevation is also fully clad in vertically hung natural Penryn Welsh slate, but at roof level black painted windows extend sculpturally outward from the wall at 45 degrees to form a fire lantern. The rear elevation sits below a steep bank rising to the north, which contains a path giving views over the top of the theatre towards the River Erne.

The hipped roof form of the original house is echoed in the roof over the extension, and the shared use of natural Penryn Welsh slate on both the walls to the rear and the roofing provides further material continuity across the complex. When constructed, the long glazed south façade was an extraordinary feature in a largely rural community still experiencing the Troubles, given the risks posed by an open, glazed elevation.

The Theatre Extension — Interior

The theatre layout was innovatory at the time of construction. The seating meets the stage at its own level, and perimeter aisles run down the rake of seats to permit a rare interaction between performers and audience. The Green Room is open to the upper foyer area. The double-decked foyer has floors floating free of the glazing, with twin staircases affording views over the lough.

Setting and Landscaping

The Ardhowen Theatre occupies a particularly noteworthy setting on the north bank of the River Erne, approximately one mile south of Enniskillen, in the small townland of Derrychara. The front entrances of both the Edwardian house and the theatre extension face south towards the river and overlook the Ardhowen Jetty, with views extending to the remaining sections of the old stone railway bridge structure. The mature, treed grounds slope down towards the water while the ground rises steeply to the north at the rear. Views from the building were designed using sensitive landscaping, with the verticality of existing mature trees helping to frame views of the river. The site lies directly west of Castle Coole.

Materials Summary

Edwardian house: walls in painted roughcast render with smooth render to surrounds; natural Welsh slate roof with terracotta ridge tiles; timber sliding-sash and multipane casement windows, all single-glazed; original cast iron rainwater goods. Theatre extension: curtain walling and vertically hung natural Penryn Welsh slate to rear and west walls; natural Penryn Welsh slate and felt flat roof; aluminium-framed curtain walling with green-tinted single glazing.