The council recently purchased the listed building which sits on the corner of Rosemary Street
A plan has been approved for a facelift upon a key building in Belfast’s most important retail thoroughfare.
Elected representatives at the September meeting of the Belfast City Council Planning Committee, held this week at City Hall, green lighted a plan for alterations to the shopfront at 35-39 Royal Avenue, Belfast, BT1.
Belfast City Council recently purchased the listed building, which sits on the corner of Royal Avenue and Rosemary Street, as part of a drive for regeneration, complementing its “Vacant to Vibrant” programme. The council has put the ground floor on the market for a retail unit.
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The council officer report states: “This application for alteration to shopfront is to improve the aesthetics of the subject building and address the wider dereliction of Royal Avenue. The current temporary shopfront is to be removed and replaced with a temporary timber shopfront more sympathetic to the conservation area and listed building.
“The historic shopfront is to remain as existing, i.e. the new shopfront will be constructed above the historic shopfront, which will remain in situ. The application also includes the installation of three downlighters and eight uplighters to the front elevation.”
Formerly known as Royal Chambers, 35-39 Royal Avenue comprises a four storey Grade B2 listed building, designed by Young and McKenzie and constructed in 1882. The premises was previously occupied by footwear retailer Schuh and the former tenant’s design remains in place.
None of the statutory bodies consulted were against the plan. The Stormont Department for Communities Historic Environment Division offered no objection to the proposal, stating that the “temporary shopfront is acceptable as a betterment to the existing shopfront and also appropriate in the setting of the adjacent listed building.”
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