Newcastle Technical College (original building), 2 Donard Street, Newcastle, Co. Down, BT33 OAW

Newcastle Technical College

This two-storey technical college was built in 1929-30 to designs by architect Castor J. Love, who served the County Down Education Committee. The building work was carried out by E. Frazer and Co., and the college was formally opened in August 1930 by Lord Londonderry.

The building is arranged in an L-plan with gabled roofs and displays a plain modern aesthetic characteristic of the period. It is finished in pebbledashed render with smooth render surrounds to wall edges and openings. The roof, which excludes the later flat-roofed extensions, is gabled and covered in natural slate with a slight overhang and plain barges. A tall rendered chimney stack rises from the rear of the main section roof. The rainwater goods are cast iron, distinguished by hoppers featuring cornices and swags.

The main entrance is positioned on the long east façade within a concrete-faced full-height bay that breaks through the roof line. The entrance doorway itself sits in a recess at ground floor level and contains a timber-panelled double door with a large fanlight. The building is characterised by numerous large window openings distributed across all elevations. The east façade has a large first-floor window within the entrance bay, with two windows flanking it at ground floor level to the left and three to the right. The south elevation contains seven large windows at both ground and first-floor levels. The north gable has a central bay similar to the front, with three large first-floor windows (one within the bay) and a single-storey link connecting to a modern extension at ground level. The west gable of the return section has a ground-floor window and door. The rear façade features a flat-roofed stairwell projection at the intersection of the main and return sections, with large windows to the north and west at upper level. The exposed portion of the west façade of the main section displays two large windows.

Large single-storey extensions with flat roofs and plain render finish have been added to the rear and north side in recent years. A separate three-storey extension in brick and concrete was constructed around the early 1960s, situated north of the original building on the opposite side of Park Lane.

A low rendered wall with simple railings fronts the building to the east and south.