Assembly Rooms, Belfast selected for the 2025 World Monuments Watch

Ulster Architectural Heritage (UAH) and the Irish Georgian Society have lent their support to the recent selection of the Assembly Rooms, Belfast for the 2025 World Monuments Watch. Nominated by the Museum of the Troubles and Peace, the Assembly Rooms is one of 25 historic places included in the 2025 Watch that are facing major challenges including climate change, tourism, conflict, and natural disaster.

Dominating the corner of North Street and Waring Street, the Assembly Rooms was built in 1769 as a single-storey, arcaded Market House with an upper storey added seven years later to the designs of the London architect Sir Robert Taylour. Further changes were made by the architect Charles Lanyon in 1845 when the building was refaced in stucco and converted to use as a bank. Alterations by W. H. Lynn in 1895 removed its ‘splendid classical interior’, while further extensions were added in 1875 by W. H. Lynn, in 1919 by Tulloch & Fitzsimons and finally in 1956-59 by G. P. & R. H. Bell. The building was listed in 1975, shortly after winning an award for ‘Best-Kept Large Building in the city of Belfast’ in 1969.

The financial use continued until the Northern Bank moved from the premises leaving the building vacant from c. 2000 with subsequent deterioration necessitating its addition to the UAH Heritage at Risk Register in 2003. Planning permission was granted to convert the building into a boutique hotel though this regrettably proposed the demolition of the 1875 extension by W. H. Lynn. However, permission for this has since lapsed and in the meantime the building has declined further.

Ulster Architectural Heritage and the Irish Georgian Society contend that the restoration of the Assembly Rooms could be an exemplar of heritage regeneration for Belfast and an indication that the City is revaluing its pride of place and character. In selecting the building for the 2025 Watch, the World Monuments Fund aims to support the Assembly Rooms Alliance in the preservation and transformation of one of Belfast’s oldest civic buildings into a multi-purpose cultural hub to build a brighter future for Belfast and beyond.

Information about the 2025 World Monuments Watch entry for the Assembly Rooms is available on: https://www.wmf.org/monuments/...

Photo credit: Ulster Architectural Heritage