This office block was built for the Ocean Accident Guarantee Corporation by Young & Mackenzie from 1899 to 1902.[1]
It is constructed in a perpendicular style in red Ballochmoyle sandstone.[2] It is Gothic Revival styled building that C.E.B. Brett described as ‘Scottish Baronial Tudor style’.[3] [4]
It is adorned by carvings of Edward VII, Queen Victoria and Queen Alexandra groan ‘under the weight they have to carry’. [5]
The building has been occupied by architects: James A Hanna, 1920, John McGeagh 1940 and GP & RH Bell and HA Patton in the 1950s.[6]
Do you want to learn more about the history of Belfast? See this and other structures on Buildings & Bricks Tour!
[1] Marcus Patton, Central Belfast, An Historical Gazetteer (Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society)p.116.
[2] Marcus Patton, Central Belfast, An Historical Gazetteer (Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society), p.116.
[3] http://www.stonedatabase.com/buildings.cfm?bk=2549 Accessed 26.6.22.
[4] C.E.B. Brett, Buildings of Belfast, 1700-1914 Revised Edition (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1985), pp.70-71.
[5] Marcus Patton, Central Belfast, An Historical Gazetteer (Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society)p.116.
[6] Marcus Patton, Central Belfast, An Historical Gazetteer (Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society), p.116.