Pavillion, Star of the Sea, Convent Primary School, Prince's Street, Warrenpoint, Newry, Co Down, BT34 3NN

A large single-storey timber pavilion in Arts and Crafts bungalow style, built in the early 20th century and located on the south-west side of Prince's Street in Warrenpoint. This is an exceptional example of its type, finely detailed and well-preserved.

The building has a pitched painted corrugated metal roof aligned north-west to south-east, with a prominent front gable facing north-east. Plain bargeboards with moulded timber trim frame the roof, while serrated terracotta ridges with terracotta finials cap the roof lines. Bead-moulded timber eaves support half-round metal rainwater goods throughout.

The decorative front gable features applied mock-Tudor beams and braces. A slightly advanced oriel window rises from four moulded timber corbels and has a thin leaded roof, moulded eaves, and similar mock-Tudor detailing. The oriel contains three small one-over-one casement windows, with the central light topped by an additional semicircular light, all sheltered beneath a timber eyebrow hood.

The main front elevation presents a symmetrical seven-bay arrangement finished with horizontal beaded tongue-and-groove sheeting. The second and sixth bays are doorways containing pairs of narrow timber doors, each with two small bottom bolection-moulded panels and large one-over-one glazed top panes, topped by narrow three-paned transom lights. The central opening contains three side-hung one-over-one casements, each with a single fixed transom above. The remaining windows are pairs of one-over-one side-hung casements with fixed transoms.

A front veranda spans the entire nine-bay width (including single-bay lean-to extensions to left and right). The veranda features a mono-pitched corrugated metal roof that hips over the end bays, wrapping around each corner as a lean-to. Veranda bays are separated by square-section timber posts and, except where gablets occur over the two central doorways, are fitted with balustrades of robust turned timber balusters. These rest on a timber handrail beam spanning the posts. Two scrolling timber brackets rise from each post, supporting an eaves-level frieze of six open square panels with drop ball-finials where the brackets meet. The veranda floor is smooth concrete and contains four unfixed timber benches with cast-iron ends moulded to resemble rustic timber frames.

The left side elevation is abutted at ground level by a single-storey extension with a felt flat roof. Its exposed gable is tin-sheeted with a central two-light casement above. The extension's south-east wall is rendered brickwork with two large steel casement windows.

The right side elevation is likewise abutted at ground level by a single-storey extension with a corrugated metal roof. Its exposed gable is tin-sheeted with a pair of two-by-three paned side-hung casement windows. The main wall is timber-framed and multi-glazed.

The rear elevation is partially abutted to its centre and right by a lower single-storey annex with a pitched corrugated metal roof. The annex's end gables feature decorative applied mock-Tudor beams. Its south-east gable contains a pair of one-over-one side-hung casements with a single transom above each, while its rear south-west elevation fronts a communal alley and contains three similar windows.

The site boundary facing Prince's Street is marked by a rendered dwarf wall with rounded coping and plain railings having alternating hoop tops and foliated finials. The front gates comprise a pair of vehicle gates and a single pedestrian gate, all with plain dog bars, crossed braces, and interlocking pointed hoop tops. Moulded cast-iron posts with bulbous foliated caps bear the maker's mark 'HILL + SMITH BRIERLEY HILL'. The setting opposite Town Park and to the rear of St Joseph's Home gives the building an impressive context and considerable group value.

The pavilion was first recorded in the 1900 Valuation revision book as a refreshment room and offices belonging to the Great Northern Railway Company, which had purchased the adjoining Highland Hotel the previous year. From 1912 it was cited as the 'pavilion engine house', by which time the company had acquired additional hotel premises at the corner of Prince's Street and the Promenade. It was designated simply as a pavilion on the 1919 Ordnance Survey 25-inch map. The Sisters of Mercy acquired the premises around 1924, and it subsequently became the Convent Primary School.