Ulster Bank - Skipper Street, Belfast, UK
N 54° 36.078 W 005° 55.550
30U E 311014 N 6054360
This building was erected as the Ulster Bank Head Office complete with an elegant banking hall. It was constructed between 1858 and 1860 to designs by James Hamilton in the Italianate style. The building houses the largest chandelier in Ireland.
Waymark Code: WM11D6W
Location: Ulster, Ireland
Date Posted: 10/01/2019
Views: 2
Wikipedia has an article about the Merchant Hotel that tells us:
"The Merchant Hotel is a five-star luxury hotel in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The hotel is situated on Skipper Street.
The building was built in the mid-nineteenth century as the headquarters of the Ulster Bank, and was transformed into a hotel in 2006. A modern extension was constructed as well.
Tyrone Crystal built the chandelier for the Great Room, the designer was Marcus Notley. It is made out of embellished gold on metal and 2600 blown out crystal pieces. With 4.5m in height, 2.9m in diameter and a weight of 400 kg, it is the largest chandelier in Northern Ireland and the island of Ireland. The chandelier was installed in 2006.
In July 2009, Merchant Hotel won the "World's Best Hotel Bar" competition. In 2010, it was awarded World's Best Cocktail Bar at the Tales of the Cocktail awards."
The Department for Communities website also tells us:
"Attached symmetrical multi-bay two-storey over basement Italianate sandstone former bank, built c.1860, to the designs of James Hamilton with colonnaded portico. Rectangular on plan, set back with a front railed area and a central domed former banking hall, its historic character, fabric and detailing survive. This former bank exhibits an exuberant carved stone exterior with parapet statuary carved by Thomas Fitzpatrick and a fine two tier portico. The interior continues the elaborate decorative exuberance with stucco ornamentation executed by George Crowe and one of the best banking halls in the city. Converted for use as a hotel, the building along with its former wing remain a fin example of this type of confident mercantile building, representing the continued growth of the city in the Victorian era by an architect of note."