The Ballinderry War Memorial Hall, 10A North Street, Upper Ballinderry, Lisburn, County Antrim, BT28 2ER

The Ballinderry War Memorial Hall is a two-storey detached hall built in 1924 to designs by architect Robert Hanna Gibson. Located east of North Street in Upper Ballinderry, it was erected to commemorate local residents who died in the Great War. The building displays good proportions and careful detailing, retaining its original appearance with minimal alteration internally or externally. Its front elevation with attached curved flanking walls is of particular architectural interest. The hall represents an unusual and relatively rare design of considerable social significance to the local community.

The hall is T-shaped on plan with a projecting porch to the front. It has a hipped natural slate roof with terracotta ridge tiles and a timber bellcote on a slated base. Roughcast chimneystacks stand over gabled flues. Cast-iron half-round rainwater goods are fitted to overhanging timber-sheeted eaves. The walls are painted roughcast render with a smooth rendered plinth and plat-band between floors.

Windows are 8/8 timber-framed sliding sash to the first floor and 12/12 to the ground floor, all set in smooth rendered painted reveals with masonry sills unless otherwise stated.

The principal elevation faces west and is symmetrically arranged. The ground floor is completely abutted by a single-storey lean-to vestibule comprising a central entrance flanked by a diamond-lattice glazed window on either side. The entrance consists of a pair of double-leaf timber doors with multi-paned top panels, embraced by a neo-Baroque style segmental canopy supported on entasis columns with pilaster responds. An oval plaque above the door bears painted lettering reading "THE BALLINDERRY WAR MEMORIAL HALL ERECTED 1924". The first floor displays a pair of windows flanking a breakfront central bay with an oculus, surmounted by a shallow pediment.

The north elevation is four windows wide, with the left bay projecting. An off-centre projecting gabled flue is present. The rear wing to the left has a window at ground and first floor level. The inner cheek to the west has a window at first floor and an original half-panelled timber door (glazing is boarded), in similar style to the main entrance, with a corbelled canopy over and accessed by a brick and tiled step enclosed by masonry block.

The rear east elevation has four 6/6 windows to the first floor. The ground floor has two windows flanked by a small timber casement window to the left and a similar opening (boarded) to the right.

The south elevation is four windows wide, with the right bay projecting and an off-centre projecting gabled flue. To the left is a sandstone inscribed plaque with painted lettering reading "FOUNDATION STONE LAID BY ALFRED SEFTON ESQ 5TH JULY 1924". The inner cheek to the west has a window to first floor and a replacement door with transom light and corbelled canopy to ground floor, accessed by a brick and tiled step enclosed by masonry block.

The hall is set back from the road with curved walls to either side of the main elevation, flanked by square piers with ball finials on plinths, and containing cast-iron gates leading to side gardens. The building is situated in a largely residential area surrounded by mid and late twentieth-century housing. To the north is an undeveloped site. The hall is enclosed to the south and east by hedgerow and timber fence.

The foundation stone was laid on 5 July 1924 by Alfred Sefton Esq., a Ballinderry businessman and gentleman. Robert H. Gibson, the architect, subsequently became the occupant of the Glebe House at Ballinderry. The hall was opened in 1924 by Sir Robert H. Baird, who commemorated the men from the area who had sacrificed their lives in the Great War. A plaque within the hall records 83 names of those from Ballinderry who fought in the Great War, 18 of whom were killed during the conflict.

The hall has served various community purposes. In April 1930 it housed a branch of the South Antrim Women's Unionist Association. In February 1936, following safety modifications, the hall was granted a Public Entertainments Licence and subsequently used for local dances. In 1947 it served as the local Child Welfare Centre for the weighing and examination of babies and children under 5 years, providing parents with advice on child care through educational films and lectures.

The hall was listed in May 1992. It is described as a pleasing neo-Georgian composition, with the confident and free design suggesting close acquaintance between architect and client. The building retains its natural slate roof and is characterized by roughcast render walling and timber-framed sash windows with cast-iron rainwater goods.