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@Belfast_Rubble
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Shining the spotlight on those contributing to the erosion of Belfast's built heritage, and observations on the urban environment.
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Joined March 2017
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A listed building. A fire. A demolition. A developer. A city. And its council. A thread......
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The most photographed street in Belfast.....
25 years ago
No glass, no corten steel, no 3D renderings, no land banking, no false promises. And no brown envelopes, property agents, investment bankers, demolition contractors or developers were involved in this success story.
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Twenty years in the hands of two developers, neither of which have made any actual positive contribution to the fabric of the city. Photo of Lower Garfield Street taken ten years ago this week.
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'Belfast Stories'
Let's look at one story.
17th December 2021, and BCC announce a £100million landmark tourism project that includes the restoration of the former Bank of Ireland building on the corner of North Street and Royal Avenue. All very admirable, but not the whole story
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Welcome to Belfast.
Where a purpose built cinema is demolished,
and then a new one goes in a recently vacated shop
CastleCourt to get new Omniplex cinema complete with licensed bar
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Prepare for a salvo of images of the big shiny new Ulster University. Here's to progress!
Just don't mention the budget, or the build schedule. And certainly don't mention what was lost, because seemingly in Belfast, anything new is always perceived as being better than old.
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Lower Garfield Street over 10 years. With scaffolding courtesy of Castlebrooke Investments, who've previously sponsored BCC attendance at the MIPIM conference in Cannes. Maybe that money & the annual scaffolding fees & the revenue from the adjacent car parks could help restore it
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Photo from 24 October 2015.
So the new Ulster University campus is now £100m over budget. Can't help but think if Alistair Adair had reeled in their architectural vanity project & retained a perfectly viable existing building they might not be in this pickle 🤔
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Is it just me or does this look like shit?
NEW: Apartment scheme at former El Divino nightclub given green light after recommendation reversed
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Pity the article doesn't mention the present owners and those responsible for its condition, and indeed the whole area, Castlebrooke Investments
Calls for Belfast's oldest public building to be saved
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Remember how Peter Boyle, owner of the Argento stores, said this should be demolished? If they'd listened to him we'd have another surface car park, and nothing on the site for 20 years!
The yellow boxes are coming down in the centre of Belfast
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Aside from demolishing built heritage. The new UU campus cost £363.9 million, has 650,000 bricks, 31,000 tonnes of concrete, 22,000m2 of glass, is allegedly built to last for at least 300 years & has its very own transportation hub. Consisting of a galvanised pole & an actual hub
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Always worth reminding ourselves what North Street looked like not so long ago, and the lost potential.
Just can't wait for the arson demolition and developers section of
#belfaststories
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It's 2021, & Belfast is still intent on demolishing its built heritage!
@LinenQuarterBID
spout rhetoric about sustainability & even have the gall to retweet Sir David Attenborough. So where's the ethics in demolishing an actual 19th century warehouse & turning it into landfill?
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As if to reinforce Belfast City Council's often questionable stance on built heritage. Visitors to Belfast's zoo have a first-hand experience that no amount of colourful hoarding can hide.
Another chapter for
#belfaststories
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A tale of three buildings (and their neighbours)
In 2016 these buildings, Nos 95-107 North St Belfast, were demolished ahead of a council meeting at which their listing was to be discussed.
They were owned by: ES North Street Limited
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Library Square, Victoria Centre, and now the Obel. Less than 20 years old and all not fit for purpose! Yet developers demolish buildings that in some cases have stood for over 100 years. Will anything being built now still be around in 50 years never mind 100?
More than 200 apartments may have to be vacated if alleged safety issues at Belfast's Obel Tower are not fixed by the end of the year, the High Court has heard.
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'Tribeca. If only we could have seen it coming? Well, we did – the people of Belfast mobilised against Tribeca and were ignored by councillors who voted for it.'
Take Back The City vs Tribeca.
‘Tribeca has taken 7 years to NOT build a mere 24 (private) apartments.’
Read our latest:
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The failed Signature Living development of the former Scottish Mutual building is again in the news through the building's state of repair. But let's not forget Castlebrooke's portfolio of built heritage, that's also suffering neglect and increasingly in danger of collapse😢
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So ..somebody actually decided, yeah a big black board. That'll be just what we need in front of that building we can't really be bothered looking after.. and hopefully no one will notice it's there
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If North Street 'sums up what he sees' then call out the developer who created it.
Castlebrooke Investments
And that empty building at 2:14. Owned by
McAleer & Rushe
Grubby, run down, no buzz, no vibrancy - the hard hitting assessment of Belfast city centre by local trader Chris Suitor
#NolanLIVE
|
@BBCiPlayer
|
@SuitorBrothers
|
@BJPMarshall
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#Belfaststories
Lets not forget in this Belfast story. The buildings that were demolished only days ahead of a listing proposal, courtesy of ES North Street Ltd (McAleer & Rushe). Who then sold the site to Belfast City Council.
NEWS: After a 12-month long international competition, supported by
@riba
,
@snohetta
&
@TODDarchitects
have been selected to deliver the next phase of
#BelfastStories
!
Lord Mayor
@cllrryanmurphy
visited the site today to welcome their appointment.
➡️
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Havelock house- another demolition ahead?
100% unanimous objections on the planning site.
HED rejection of submitted plans.
Can BCC take a hint and apply their supposed green credentials?
Refurbish and re-use is the only option!
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Imagine if stuff like this happened in Belfast.
Imagine North Street
Another example from Bordeaux, France completed in 2011. There has been some serious renevjuation of entire streets along the ring boulevard the last decade. Much of the development is due to less traffic and more tram/bike ridership.
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The floodgates are now well and truly open!
Student Accommodation and more Student Accommodation and more Student Accommodation and more Student Accommodation and more Student Accommodation and more Student Accommodation and more Student Accommodation and more and more and more!
Filthy McNastys on Dublin Road. Public consultation is underway on a proposal to redevelop the site as an 11 storey student accommodation block with 210 bedrooms and a ground floor public house
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If the powers in Belfast weren't so in collusion with developers it'd be great to see this happening here
Developer buys pub. Developer is refused planning permission. Developer demolishes it anyway -in breach of planning laws and in spite of the fact it was being considered for Grade II listing.
Period of public uproar. Developer is ordered to rebuild it brick-by-brick. Glorious.
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The gradual demise of the Dublin Road continues
Demolition work has started at 56-63 Dublin Road - presiously Kitch & Emerald City. The site next to The Gallery has planning permission for a 10 storey block of 85 flats
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Five years ago today. Ulster University destroying Belfast's built heritage for Alastair Adair's vanity project.
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It's .... Spot the differnce time!
Royal Avenue
North Street
Sirocco Works
Seemingly one day all of Belfast might look like this 🙄
But that's ok, as each building only has a 35 year life expectancy 😧
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When is a Conservation Area, not a Conservation Area?Within the Linen quarter is Clarence Gallery, which is described as an unlisted three-storey, red brick warehouse, constructed circa 1880. It is also described as the last vernacular, functional warehouse within the area.
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Another car park.
Another for a developer to land bank
Historic building in Belfast set to be partially demolished after blaze
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Fourteen of the images in this article are premises owned by Castlebrooke Investments in their Tribecatastrophe
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Degeneration by Castlebrooke Investments Degeneration by Castlebrooke Investments Degeneration by Castlebrooke Investments Degeneration by Castlebrooke Investments Degeneration by Castlebrooke Investments Degeneration by Castlebrooke Investments
It's heartbreaking to witness the deteriorating state of North Street and Donegall Street in Belfast. Protecting our built heritage is vitally important, and these new aerial pictures highlight the importance of doing so before it is too late...
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Surprise surprise. Wouldn't it be great for the students if there was a cinema and some pubs in the area.
A developer is granted planning permission to demolish Belfast city centre pub Filthy McNasty's and replace it with student flats.
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The Rotterdam Bar is to be demolished for another apartment block… why can’t we save our cultural treasures?
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We're all sympathetic to the hospitality industry having a hard time with Covid, but is blocking the pavements OK?
Crash Barriers across footpath! Actually watched a wheel chair user turn around and go back.
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The former Jamison & Green Ltd premises, Prince’s Buildings 102-108 Ann St. Acquired in 2019 by Glendola Leisure and Carlton Hotel Collection (owners of the adjacent Tipsy Bird) it's starting to look like it's being modelled on the failed George Best Hotel. Or land-banked ☹️
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With demolition the name of the game on Great Victoria Street this week. Time to reflect again on the opposite side of the road. The city is quickly turning into an adventure playground for developers, where everything built now, will again be demolished in 30-60 years
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Quality and sophistication, allegedly.
Or, just looks like every other development
We have acquired the site at 46-52 Upper Queen Street and plan to redevelop the location to create a bespoke nine-storey flexible workspace, offering the high level of quality and sophistication that has become the hallmark of Urban HQ.
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Despite BCC declaring a climate emergency in 2019, developers are still intent on demolishing usable buildings. So let's say goodbye to this one. Built in 1932, already butchered for the benefit of traffic, and soon to be another block of student accommodation cells.
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Council officer concerned a survey of derelict buildings will have "significant resource implications."
Me thinks a pair of eyes, notepad and two feet would cover the City Centre.
Or an afternoon on google street view if its raining.
Belfast City Council has agreed to look at making a new survey of dilapidated buildings across the city and to push Stormont to urgently bring forward legislation to tackle the problem.
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COMPARE & CONTRAST.
North Street 2008: Before developers
Google street view
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More bland generic architecture.
The most ambitious aspect of this design seems to be the thought that having retail space or a restaurant will be viable.
PLANNING COMMITTEE: Green light given for 14 storey Grade A office block on Dublin Road with retail/restaurant unit on ground floor. On northern side of former cinema site onto Bankmore Square, the premises will be the headquarters for Kainos, when completed
#BuildingBelfast
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So in the foreseeable future, a listed building under the jurisdiction of ES North Street Ltd. is now in a critical condition. And even more vulnerable thanks to their reluctance or inability to look after it. But then, just look what they did down the street. It's all about £££
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York Street Interchange is again in the spotlight. And once upon a time on Corporation Street, and long before the Dunbar link, waste ground, the flyover, and numerous surface car parks existed. That area looked like this!
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Imagine a city where historic buildings are refurbished or renovated.
Just think about that.....and then think about what SHOULD be happening in North Street
#saveCQ
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Yet, in the existing developer-council relationship the real authentic Belfast previously existing on North Street in Victorian bricks & mortar has willfully been sacrificed by both, & one wonders what sum was paid by BCC for the site among their dealings with McAleer & Rushe
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The closing of Craftworld sadly marks the end of another local independent shop. IMHO not a good thing. But little mention has been made of the building recently being sold and in the submitted plans, the internal ground floor layout doesn't look like its facilitating Craftworld
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Building listed = Building Saved?
Hopefully, but we’re not quite there yet
Back in August the BCC Planning Committee approved the listing of the former Belfast Electric Light Station sited between Chapel Lane and Marquis Street.
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Castlebrooke Investments
@Tribeca_Belfast
The developers that just keep giving.
Will we be waiting for chunks to fall off the Assembly Rooms before something is done with it?
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My beloved Belfast is selling its soul to universities
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Never thought I'd prefer the look of a a surface car park to a building. Seemingly new build student accommodation really has no architectural merit
Planning secured within 5 mths for this new 724 B’room Student Acc scheme on a b’field site only 100m from the new UU Campus on Little Donegal St. £55m investment. Can’t wait to see new life is this part of the city. Great team effort
@lotus_property
@CiaranDeazley
@MCEnewsfeed
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Some parts of Belfast have changed very little in 80 years.
And sometimes we take places and buildings for granted, oblivious to their previous history and not realising their value.
Isn't it time to embrace rather than replace our built heritage
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Retail in Belfast ☹️ Well at least we've still got offices, hotels, apartments and student accommodation to save the city
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March 2020
“The Garfield Street building is a very important building”- “and it has been derelict for many many years and that’s where restoration work has already started there.”
March 2024. So, how's that restoration going then?
“Every listed building in the scheme is being restored, put back together and forming new uses.” Dawson Stelfox
@consarc_design
#TribecaBelfast
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Seemingly unloved, and largely ignored, Canada House on North Street is slowly being vacated by the last of the local businesses who've recently traded from the premises. Built in 1958 on a site destroyed in the blitz maybe we should save our mid-century buildings too?
#saveCQ
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Can anyone see a trend developing?
Residents of an apartment block in Belfast have been told they must vacate the building by the end of April after "serious safety, design and construction issues" were identified.
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Shouldn't this be the other way around?
"The VAT payable on new build projects is set as zero, whereas unfortunately on refurbishment projects it is set at 20%. This adds to the financial burden on anyone trying to carry out a refurbishment".
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Condition, courtesy of Castlebrooke Investments
New photos show the deteriorating state of the Assembly Rooms, a Grade B1 listed building located at the junction of North Street and Waring Street. Built in 1769, it now sits abandoned following stalled plans to convert it into a boutique hotel as part of the Tribeca scheme.
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"Few cities neglect their landmark buildings more than Belfast, where the planning system is fragmented and enforcement toothless."
@SharonCDir
@Seven_of_9ine
@belfastcc
@Belfast_Rubble
An article in Private Eye clarified what I already believed:
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‘Belfast is being character-assassinated’: Architecture chief hits out at Titanic Quarter apartment construction
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Like other developers
@lotus_property
wasting no time in making sure their profit margins won't be compromised.
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The public was never consulted on the future of these buildings. McAleer & Rushe simply had them demolished, to be replaced with hotel, offices & apartments. No doubt & considering their relationship with BCC their new proposal will be granted with no questions asked.
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Really, not that much difference between an office block design, and student accommodation. Architectural design being reduced to the lowest common denominator.
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Lot's of positivity about the former Bank of Ireland being taken over by BCC, but wait. McAleer & Rushe demolished all the adjacent built heritage (with the blessing of BCC?) seemingly to facilitate a visitor attraction about Belfast! And, if the new build looks like that! 😭
Elements of
#BelfastStories
will be housed in the former Bank of Ireland premises on Royal Ave. Area around the listed Art Deco building will also be transformed under the scheme, which is due to open in 2028 & will act as a catalyst for further regeneration of our city centre.
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As if further evidence is needed as to how BCC views built heritage. If it was in the city centre would have been sold to a developer, demolished and then sold back to BCC.
Neglected Belfast stately home ‘already in ruins’ following raids by thieves
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Regardless of transport or infastructure.
Whats does this say about attitudes to built heritage. Look at what's replaced the original station !
😭😭😭😭
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There's been a few posts in recent weeks about parking infractions in Belfast. The thing is, it's different rules for different people.
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BCC favourites McAleer & Rushe can encapsulate the mindset of the majority of developers in one stroke. After demolishing period buildings this apparently will "sensitively address the urban context and bordering conservation areas"
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Could probably have some interiors in Belfast and Dublin like this, if developers didn't keep demolishing things.
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The Belfast Urban Motoray (BUM) proposal from1969.
Ideas from over 50 years ago still being put forward, when what's really needed is a complete change of thinking.
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Greener. Hmm, stop developers demolishing buildings that are perfectly viable
Do you have a suggestion for making Belfast city centre safer, greener or more inclusive? Share your ideas in our
#CGISCityCentre
consultation, open until 27 April -
@BelfastBID
@LinenQuarterBID
@DestinationCQ
@VisitBelfast
@BelfastCentre
@BelfastChamber
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With increased pedestrian use during Christmas, it suddenly becomes blatantly obvious just how pedestrian un-friendly parts of Belfast are.
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On Friday another piece of Belfast’s built heritage was partially levelled, with the rear section of the listed building at 166-174 North Street receiving unwelcome attention from McCormick Demolition. After being subject to an arson attack on 31st May.
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In Belfast the majority of architects seem to be pandering the desires of developers or clients to maximise the potential financial yield of the site or produce a vanity project. Hence, identikit design & widespread demolition of existing built heritage. Alternatives exist
"Demolition is a waste of energy, a waste of material, and a waste of history. For us, it is an act of violence.”
The brilliant Lacaton & Vassal scoop this year's Pritzker Prize 🎉
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In Belfast, it would've been demolished
Wolf Krongold's tenement house in the Wola district of Warsaw, Poland has recently been restored. What do we think?
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If you've walked frequently along the Dublin Road over the past 20 years, you'll appreciate it's character has and continues to be decimated. So, nothing to Like about replacing an 1840's terrace with another 10 storey generic apartment block! Its all about the ££
#brownenvelopes
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It used to be offices.
In 2020, LA04/2020/2548/PAN proposed apartments. In 2022, Z/2011/1178/F proposed a hotel.
In 2023 there's only one option left.
SPOILER ALERT!
It's student accommodation
Almost three years after initial plans, the same developer is submitted a new scheme for Belfast's Fanum House on Great Victoria Street.
In 2020 is planned a built-to-let scheme. Now, South Bank Square is planning a £55m 610-bedroom student scheme
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Previously ES North Street Limited also owned the site enclosed by Royal Ave, North St, Union St, Kent St, including the listed former Bank Of Ireland.
During 2017 numbers 95-107 North Street & the adjacent period warehouses were all levelled, prior to a listing being sought.
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Another stunning addition to the Belfast skyline!
Lotus Property has lodged plans for a £55m investment in a new 724 student apartment development at Donegall Street in Belfast city centre
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Thinking of the worlds great railway stations, many have stood for over 100 years. They're iconic.
What comparable buildings we had from that era have been demolished. And then their replacements are also being demolished.
Wonder if we'll get 100 years out of the new ones?
After 184 years in operation, Belfast’s Great Victoria Street Station will permanently close later today!
This engraving (PRONI ref D2095/3) dates from around when the station was first opened, Belfast’s only railway station at the time. 🚆✨
@Translink_NI
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Approved tonight, could the BCC planning committee all please resign? If they should demolish anything start with the building on the left!
If you've walked frequently along the Dublin Road over the past 20 years, you'll appreciate it's character has and continues to be decimated. So, nothing to Like about replacing an 1840's terrace with another 10 storey generic apartment block! Its all about the ££
#brownenvelopes
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'No can do' developers Castlebrooke saying Belfast must adopt a 'can do' attitude.
What Mr Young probably means is: I hope these fools give us the public space at Writers Square before we flog our 'Project Goat' land banking scheme to the next doesn't give a shit investor.
Neil Young, Chief Executive, Castlebrooke Investments: “Belfast must continue to adopt a ‘can do’ attitude in order to achieve its full potential. Sustainability and profitability are key in enticing world-class occupiers to the city.”
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Mr Moore felt that 6-14 Chichester Street was one of the last parts of this landmark thoroughfare in need of regeneration. The current buildings are not fit for purpose and the space is grossly under-utilised.
I beg to differ!
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The past 24 hours has seen a huge media distraction centred of a re-branding event by a PR company. So let's take a few seconds to remind this city what
#TribecaBelfast
actually looks like, pending approval of demolitions and evictions etc etc
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If you think the present glut of apartment developments all look the same. Some developers working in Belfast are using pretty much the same design for multiple locations.
Is this really what our city needs!
Time for a game of spot the difference.
One building has been carefully designed by Olympian Homes to reflect the unique character of the Ormeau Road.
The second has been designed by them to reflect the unique character of Newcastle's Quayside area.
Which is which?
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Rejoice....another hotel, and another inappropriate ten storeys, sending out the message to developers that every subsequent development on the street can also be 10 storeys. Thanks for that one BCC
The Queen Street aparthotel is beginning to take shape. 10 storey, 175 bedrooms 🏗️
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@ArtDecoBankBfst
@james_c_ashe
@BelfastHourNI
@Gilleeece
@ArtDecoSocUK
@Belfastpast
@LindaFStewart
@historicshops
@DocumentBelfast
@ArtDecoist
@titanic401
@ArchitectureNI
Queens Street...now known as 'Craftworld'
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How about, instead of demolishing or watching built heritage mysteriously ignite, the Belfast Agenda actually embraced the possibilities of the cities built heritage, and all of it, rather than pandering to the architectural whims of developers
Chief Executive
@SuzanneWylie2
has welcomed the
#ResetForGrowth
report, which reflects the Belfast Agenda, the city’s community plan, & work already underway through
#BRCityDeal
&
@ICbelfast
. Read more about the commission’s recommendations at
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Later, a number of renderings appeared online showing office & hotel developments. But the site was subsequently sold to Belfast City Council for their £100m landmark visitor attraction called Belfast Stories. (We doubt it will mention developers or demolition of built heritage)
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It's a spin-the-wheel game for developers in Belfast. And if your first option for offices doesn't look viable, spin it again, until it lands on hotels or the very profitable, student accommodation.
A new student scheme could be built at a Belfast site green lit for an office and retail development.
Bywater and Ashmour is now submitted fresh plans for the site at the top of Royal Avenue. It was due to be a scheme called 'Building Blocks' (below)
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BCC is quite happy to let developers demolish or neglect the cities built heritage, to replace it with buildings that themselves will be demolished within our own lifetimes. Regen & tourism would benefit more from preserving our past, than replacing it with another glass block
Cllr Clíodhna Nic Bhranair, Chair of
@belfastcc
’s City Growth & Regen Committee, said that long term building for future generations is key to the city region’s success. She added that connectivity, regen and tourism are 3 crucial areas that could help us seize our opportunity.
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