Destination report: a design-led guide to Belfast
From eco hometels to the world of academia, we handpick some of our favourite spaces to work, stay and study in Northern Ireland’s capital.
room2 belfast
Now one of the most popular tourist destinations in the UK and Ireland, Belfast’s fortunes have been all but transformed from the gloomier days of the Troubles. A steady stream of new developments are now adding to the city’s creative and cultural tapestry, from innovative workplaces to design-led hotels and progressive University environments – reshaping the student experience. We look at a selection of projects showcasing Belfast’s burgeoning design clout.
Locality and sustainability meet at room2, the city’s first eco aparthotel
Transforming the once-avoided Castle Street and neighbouring Queens Street from their gritty past, room2 Belfast is the fourth outpost for owners Lamington Group and the first outside of England. Boasting a central, desirable location, the vibrant, elaborately-designed aparthotel is the city’s first out-and-proud ecohotel, with sustainability a core tenet of the project from design to day-to-day operations.
Inside, a collection of experiences are intended to plug into different elements of a day or stay – including common spaces to prop up a laptop; lounge areas to relax and socialise; a natty bar, café and restaurant; and even a bijou art gallery showcasing works by local creators. As such, room2 was designed to say something about the city it occupies and what both locals and travellers want from a modern, multi-layered hospitality destination.
Hawkins\Brown reimagines the student experience at Queen’s University
Gifted a clean slate to envision an entirely new Student’s Union, Hawkins\Brown – in partnership with Belfast-based RPP Architects – opted not to compete with Queen’s University’s historic Lanyon building, but to ‘complement’; devising something that would act as a counterpoint both in style and ideology.
With this vision in mind, they created One Elmwood: an ultra-contemporary new build with a vast, multi-storey glass frontage looking out to Lanyon, while equally considering the flanking, mostly late 19th century residential streets and other historic sites nearby. As a modern hub servicing diverse users, there was also an understanding that the project would have to be future-proofed and work for all. These considerations range from ensuring clear physical wayfinding to providing an alcohol-free social space for those who wish to congregate with peers, minus the beers.
BDP envision a workplace of the future for PwC’s Belfast HQ
Drafted to devise a future-proofed workspace for one the Big Four global accounting firms, BDP transformed the nine-storey Merchant Square building in the heart of the city. PwC’s Belfast office is the company’s largest site outside of London, and its move from a River Lagan-hugging complex to the city centre was one of the city’s largest ever private-sector office letting deals.
With wellness, sustainability and adaptability key goals, BDP banished allocated offices and banks and replaced them with community spaces and anchor points to position departments. Order is maintained through the neat use of technology, with an app for meeting room bookings, digital lockers and a fifth floor ‘tech bar’ where the 3500-strong workforce can access instant tech help – as well as ID-activated vending machines stocked with chargers and spare cables. Also striving to be a lively community hub as well as an office, Merchant Square’s cultural and lifestyle programming includes yoga and language classes, sports screenings and a running club, as well as a treatment space available for counselling services or even massages.
This article first appeared in Mix Interiors #225.
Creative disruption at Rapid7’s research and development centre
Occupying Chichester House, one of the best-connected digital office spaces in Belfast, IA Interior Architects and SPACE worked with US cyber security firm Rapid7 to create its outpost. With a clear ambition to devise one of the most engaging workplaces in Northern Ireland, IA Architects drew inspiration from local neighbourhood marketplaces and furnished the ground floor with a barista café, lounge bar, library, games room and ‘makerspace’ – featuring Lego walls, 3D printers and Raspberry Pis for learning programming.
Throughout the project, SPACE also provided bespoke joinery pieces and intimate lighting with finishes and furniture to complement each individual area, enabling total flexibility within the building to comfortably house different activities and working styles. Moving up the nine storeys, each floor’s individual theme is brought to life through graphics and signage, while the reception boasts a magnificent Moose 3D sculpture suspended from the ceiling.
A red brick revolution for Queen’s Business School and student hub
Against a backdrop of historical and architectural significance, TODD Architects was asked to create something new for Northern Ireland’s only Russell Group university: a building that could go toe-to-toe with the storied and stately, sit seamlessly within its surroundings and – in no small way – represent innovation and a commitment to today’s concerns; among them, sustainability.
As well as accommodating large-scale teaching spaces and academic offices, places for collaboration and socialising were also a priority, including computer clusters, boardrooms, quiet study areas and breakout lounges for academics or visitors. Externally, a restrained material palette was chosen for the student hub, utilising red clay brick, red cast stone to delineate colonnades and bronze aluminium – so although the building features a more austere silhouette than the adjacent Riddel Hall, there remains a common material language.
