Lisburn Post Office, 2 Linenhall Street, Lisburn, County Antrim, BT28 1FA

Lisburn Post Office

An asymmetrical two-storey frame construction post office depot, built in 1962, located on the south side of Market Square, Linenhall Road, Lisburn. The building is rectangular on plan with a flat roof and is aligned east-west. The principal two-storey block is abutted on its south side by a single-storey double-height sorting office.

The structure comprises a precast reinforced concrete frame infilled with prefabricated concrete panels, stretcher-bonded concrete brick and a concrete plinth. The principal elevation faces north and comprises eight bays. The leftmost bay contains the original post office entrance (now closed), surmounted by a decorative concrete brick panel and post office crest. The next four bays are identical, each containing a large window with four pivot metal casements at ground floor level and a precast panel surmounted by four replacement uPVC windows at first floor. The next two bays contain an entrance at ground floor framed by precast concrete panels, with first floor matching the previous bays. The end bay contains a security block with a single replacement entrance door at ground floor.

The east elevation has a single-storey extension at ground floor; the exposed section above shows six fixed windows at first floor. The south elevation is abutted by the single-storey double-height sorting office and at its east corner by a tall brick chimney and access block. The exposed section at first floor contains six replacement uPVC windows, diminished in size towards the right. The west elevation is largely abutted by a two-storey shop and is blank where exposed. The sorting office's west elevation has scattered fenestration opening onto a vacant site to the south of Market Square.

Windows throughout are predominantly replacement uPVC casements, though some original pivot metal casement windows remain on the north elevation at first floor. Replacement uPVC rainwater goods are installed at the south. The south boundary wall of the site comprises rubble stone and represents the remains of the former Linen Hall, built around 1750.

The post office first appears on Ordnance Survey maps in 1962. It was constructed on the former site of Lisburn's Linen Hall, a square walled-in area built around 1750, which was replaced by the Fowl and Butter Market in 1893. The market stood until at least 1939, when it last appeared on the fifth edition of the Ordnance Survey maps. A date plaque confirms that No. 2 Linenhall Street was built in 1962. The building operated as Lisburn's main post office depot for nearly 40 years until its closure around 2001, when the function relocated to a new post office that opened on 15 March 2001 at nos. 19–21 Market Square.

The building is a representative example of 1960s public building design using an exposed structural frame with infill panels. It is recorded for historical and industrial archaeological interest but is not of sufficient architectural merit to warrant listing.