Sunday 9 September 2007

Bank of Ireland

This art deco building at the top of Royal Avenue used to house a branch of the Bank of Ireland. It is now lying empty - I've no idea what is being planned for the building, but hopefully it won't be ruined by any future development.

7 comments:

Stephen Barnes said...

Totally agree. It's a fantastic building.

Can I recommend you post this to the Flickr Group "Buildings at Risk: neglected architecture in Northern Ireland" - this is a perfect example

dr. adder said...

This is one of my favourite buildings and a shame that it has been derelict for so long - Sinclair's Building, just across the road, is another great art deco building. Like you, I hope they retain the original character of this one.

Just a thought (nothing to do with this) is Testaccio Italian for Tesco (c:~

Gerald (SK14) said...

Hope it finds a sensitive owner.

blueboat said...

Good idea Stephen. I'll definitely do this (just as soon as I work out how).

Oh if only Tesco could compete with Testaccio market (apart from the horse butcher - I could happily live without that)


It'll be really interesting to see what happens to the BoI building. It really shocks me that a building so striking, and so close to the city centre, lies empty, when Belfast is undergoing such a property boom. I guess some developer is waiting to bulldoze it and throw up another godawful office building.
(Would it be a good idea to take a few photos of the worst of Belfast's new buildings. eg. the truly appalling Lesley Exchange buildings by the Albert Bridge (or any of the Lesley buildings come to that).

dr. adder said...

... or turn it into more bloody apartments!!

Teresa said...

I have been lead to believe that this building started off as a hotel, can anyone confirm this? I know this is pushing it, but does anyone know dates for it as well? :)

David Thompson said...

Yes this is a great building. Sorry to hear it is empty. Hopefully someone will see the value in it and make something fabulous happen without destroying what is already there.