The Logic Cafe, The Old School, Main Street, Moira, County Down, BT67 0LQ

The Logic Cafe (formerly Moira Public Elementary School)

A symmetrical single-storey three-bay former school dated 1908, built to the designs of engineer William Wright Larmor. The building is located at the crest of Main Street in Moira, opposite Moira Police Station, on a slightly elevated site overlooking the street.

The building has a rectangular plan form with a single-storey return to the rear. The roof is hipped natural slate (replaced around 2000) with crested terracotta ridge tiles and finials, timber fascia and barge boards, and replacement extruded metal cyma-recta moulded guttering and box-section downpipes. The chimneys have been removed.

The external walls are constructed of red brick in Flemish bond to the upper portion, with a random basalt lower portion separated by an enlarged concrete string course. An engineering brick projected plinth course runs around the building. The principal south-facing elevation is symmetrically arranged, comprising a central gabled projected porch flanked by two gabled projected bays. The central porch contains the front door centrally located, with a marble plaque bearing granite consoles and a diminutive chinoiserie canopy inscribed "MOIRA PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ERECTED 1908". Single windows are located on the east and west cheek of the porch. Either side of the porch are single bi-partite windows. The projecting gabled bays to either side each have a pair of tall bi-partite windows centrally located. Replacement single-glazed timber framed casement windows feature decorative granite lintels. The principal door is double-leaf timber with a flush sheeted central panel and bronze ironmongery, with a decorative moulded lintel.

The left elevation is symmetrically arranged with a pair of centrally located bi-partite windows. The right elevation matches the left. The rear elevation is asymmetrically arranged with an asymmetrically central projected gable bay flanked by two gabled bays. The central bay comprises a rear door located right of centre with a single window to the right and two modern windows with concrete lintels, replacing a former matching door to the left. The west cheek has a single modern window to the far left with matching concrete lintel. The eaves level of the east cheek is significantly lower than the rest of the building, just above the enlarged string course. The right gable bay comprises a single double-leaf door to the right. The left gable bay comprises a pair of bi-partite windows, matching the front elevation.

The building sits isolated on a slightly elevated site with a grass area to the front and a tarmac path accessing the front door from the street. A tarmac path runs around the building with a car parking area to the rear. The site is bounded to the south and east by a low-rise basalt rubble wall with concrete coping surmounted by decorative iron railings and matching gates and piers. Paladin fences to the rear adjoin the building, enclosing a small yard and free-standing cabin. Modern houses are adjacent to the rear and west elevation.

William Wright Larmor was responsible for designing numerous houses, schools and churches, largely within the Banbridge and Moira area between 1900 and 1920. He had previously served as resident engineer for the construction of causeways and bridges on the Connemara coast, and from around 1907 until 1934 or 1935 was assistant county surveyor for County Down. He was engineer to Banbridge Rural District Council from the passing of the Local Government Act of 1898 until his retirement in 1934.

The building replaced an earlier school on the same site built by the Earl of Moira, former proprietor of the town and demesne. Credit for building the present school is given by local history to the Deramore Estate and its land agent, Mr J L Dowie, though the Irish Builder states the school was built for the select vestry of the local church. The school itself was later replaced by a new primary school built in the early 1970s to the north of the town.

In 1975 the building became the property of the Church of Ireland in fulfilment of the terms of its charter, which stated it was to pass to the church when no longer in use as a school. It was opened as a youth hall in 1975 and remains in use as a drop-in centre.