Northern Ireland

[belfastuniguy 18]

I did collate a Belfast Thread, but that was a very long time ago and feel its time to begin again and instead this time look at places outside Belfast, including Belfast itself. I'll throw in some interesting fact along the way also and in addition to urban images showcase the unbelievable beauty of the Northern Irish countryside and especially the coastal areas, described as some of the most spectacular in the world.

First up, the first instalment from Belfast

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Belfast

Area: 115sqkm

City Population: 267,500

Metro Population: 783,418

Capital of Northern Ireland, once an economic and industrial powerhouse within the British Empire. Formerly home to the largest linen mills, engineering works, tobacco factories, ropeworks and of course the world largest shipyard. It hosted some of the grandest Victorian architecture in the United Kingdom and its large department stores served people ranging from the British Royal Family, shipping magnates, industrial giants to the Russian Imperial Family.

witness to over 30 years of horrific violence, it suffered greatly and its once proud industrial and commercial heritage collapsed. Yet today it is a shinning light in the economic gloom. Booming tourism, speedy economic growth, a young and energetic population among the most educated and vibrant in the United Kingdom and a example of economic development that countless cities now emulate.

It is home to Ireland's tallest building, the largest waterfont development ever undertaken in Europe and one of the largest inner-city shopping developments in Europe. It has the second lowest crime rate in the developed world after Japan and has recently developed ina technology research and development powerhouse within Europe with companies like Microsoft, Citigroup establishing European bases.

First selection of pics will look at Belfast today, some of its modern developments and most iconic buildings

Sirocco Quays

Once home to the largest engineering plants and ropeworks in the world, Sirocco pioneered many new innovations, including air conditioning units and the worlds first tea leaf drying burners that were shipped across the world. Indeed Belfast was the first ever city in the world to have a building that used air conditioning, the Royal Victoria Hospital. The former factory has been demolished and all that remain is the old brick wall and chimney running alongside the River Lagan. The site is currently under re-development with the Chimney remaining as a mark of the sites previous significance to the city of Belfast.

Belfast City Hall and Donegall Square

Plans for the City Hall began in 1888 when Belfast was awarded city status by Queen Victoria. This was in recognition of Belfast's rapid expansion and thriving linen, rope-making, shipbuilding and engineering industries. During this period Belfast briefly overtook Dublin as the most populous city on the island of Ireland

The exterior is built mainly from Portland stone and is in the Classical Renaissance style. It covers an area of one and a half acres and has an enclosed courtyard.

Featuring towers at each of the four corners, with a lantern-crowned 173ft brass dome in the centre, the City Hall dominates the city centre skyline. As with other Victorian buildings in the city centre, the City Hall's copper-coated domes are a distinctive green.

The interior has a number of notable features including The Porte-Cochère and Grand Entrance, The Grand Staircase, The Reception Room and The Great Hall. The latter was destroyed during the Belfast blitz and subsequently rebuilt.

Carrara, Pavonazzo and Brescia marbles are used extensively throughout the building as are stained glass windows featuring among others the Belfast Coat of Arms, portraits of Queen Victoria and King William III and shields of the Provinces of Ireland.

The grounds are open for people to enjoy and when it's sunny are used by shoppers and offices workers for a cool place to lunch. The grounds also feature many memorials, including;

• One of Queen Victoria
• Titanic Memorial
• James Magennis VC, the only Northern Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross during World War II
• One to the American Expeditionary Force, many of whom were based in Belfast prior to D-Day.
• William Pirrie - 1st Viscount Pirrie, Chairman of Harland and Wolff and Belfast Lord Mayor
• Edward James Harland - Founder of Harland and Wolff

It also has Northern Ireland's Cenotaph and garden of remembrance

Cue lots of lovely pictures

Belfast City Hall

Titanic Memorial

Queen Victoria Statue

Memorial Window to the 1907 Dock Strike

Northern Ireland Cenotaph

Memorial to the Royal Ulster Rifles

Around City Hall

Robinson and Cleaver Department Store

This once was the largest and most exclusive in Belfast with customers ranging from shipping magnates, the Royal Family to the Tsars of Russia

Robinson and Cleaver with the Statue of Harland

Former Mill House - now Marks and Spencer

Scottish Provident Building

Pearl Insurance Building

Northern Ireland HSBC HQ

Ulster Bank HQ

Bank of Ireland HQ for Northern Ireland

Overview

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That's just the very start, a lot more to come from Belfast and from across Northern Ireland

[yellowguy88 1]

This is great! I was just in Belfast a week ago.. had such a good time i drove from Dublin to goto the Titanic Exhibition.. totally worth it!

But isn't the european HQ of Microsoft in Dublin..

[Duke87 1,070]

her modernityquote>

In exactly what way is Northern Ireland a female entity?

[belfastuniguy 18]

@Yellowguy88 - Belfast has the software development HQ

@Duke - Nothing strange in that term at all. Many people refer to nations in a female term as many, mainly European, come from the Romantic languages. The United Kingdom an Ireland also both have female symbols. The UK has Britannia and Ireland has

[belfastuniguy 18]

Titanic Quater Belfast

The Vision

"Titanic Quarter is a high profile European waterfront development firmly rooted in the history and character of Belfast, acting as a driver for high quality investment and development in the city."
Titanic Quarter, Europe's largest and most exciting waterfront development, will transform a 185-acre site on the banks of Belfast's river Lagan into a new mixed use maritime quarter with a mile of water frontage and a range of investment opportunities including: over 7,500 apartments, 900,000 sq. m. of business, education, office and research and development floor space together with hotels, restaurants, cafes, bars and other leisure uses.
Titanic Quarter will bring new life to a part of the city that is rich in both history and potential. The site is centred upon former shipbuilding land from which vessels such as the RMS Titanic, Olympic and SS Canberra were launched - some of most innovative and complex engineering projects ever undertaken.
It will become a major social and business meeting place with galleries, theatres, parklands and water sports all easily connected to Belfast's thriving city centre.
The Titanic Quarter development is co-promoted by the Port of Belfast and Titanic Quarter Limited. The £5bn development is expected to create at least 25,000 new jobs over the next 15 years. quote>

PHASE 1

1 million sqft mixed-use development adjacent to the Odyssey Arena and Pavilion. Phase 1 encompasses the ‘the Arc' residential complex, designed by award winning architects Robinson McIlwaine, Gateway Offices by award winning Todd Architects, hotel, retail and leisure opportunities.
This phase also includes a new third level education campus for Belfast Metropolitan College, designed by Todd Architects and the new HQ of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI)








The new Public Record Office of Northern Ireland


The new Belfast Metropolitan College campus












PHASE 2

3.3 million sqft high mixed-use development offering residential, commercial, retail and leisure facilities. At the heart of this Phase will be the Titanic Signature Project, the former Harland & Wolff headquarters building and the RMS Titanic and RMS Olympic slipways which will form a world-class visitor destination.

Developments
· 37,000 sq m for business / employment use
· 200,000 sq m extension of ARC to north of Abercorn Basin
· 11,300 sq m for tourism including - Titanic Signature Project
· 23,000 sq m for leisure facilities including hotels, conference facilities, restaurants, bars, cafes and sports facilities
· Refurbishment of the former H&W HQ into a 4-star hotel

Infrastruture
· Creation of Titanic Boulevard
· New Dee Street bridge over Sydenham By-pass
· Adoption of the rest of Sydenham Rd inc. landscaping
· Landscaped squares around the former H&W HQ
· Refurbishment of Hamilton Graving Dock to allow mooring of the Nomadic
· New dock walls to north and west of Abercorn Basin
· Creation of marina in Abercorn Basin
· Public walkways and cycle routes around Abercorn Basin










TITANIC QUARTER SIGNATURE PROJECT

The Titanic Project is located to the north of Abercorn Basin, running the full east-west depth of the site. It is amongst a trio of heritage, leisure and culture buildings:

1. Refurbished Harland & Wolff administration and drawing block
2. Queen’s Island Wharf complex
3. Titanic Experience (also known as the signature project).


The crystalline Titanic Experience building is shaped as a white star (after the shipping company - White Star Line).
It will house a flying IMAX theatre where viewers are suspended in the air. A 50m scale model of the Titanic, a maritime museum and events facilities

The building will face the huge 80 x 300m slipways of Titanic and Olympic to highlight the vast scale of the ship.

The slipways together will create a city-scaled, public open space, which also acts as a place of remembrance.















PHASE 3-5


These phases are currently at conceptual design stage.

MASTERPLAN

[buildsolid 4]

that looks amazing, hope they develop it. We tried to have something like that in Fremantle, W.Aust. but the govt rejected it. Would love to go to N. Ireland sometime.

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: belfastuniguy

Nothing strange in that term at all. Many people refer to nations in a female term as many, mainly European, come from the Romantic languages.quote>

I'm aware that people do it all the time, I just don't like it. Personification of inanimate objects is one of my pet peeves. Strictly speaking, gendered pronouns only apply to people, although using them to describe animals is acceptable in some cases. But places or things? No. Never. Someone calling a boat, a concept, a country, etc. "she" drives me nuts. They don't have girl parts - the defining characteristic necessary for something to be a "she".

Although, what's even worse in this case is the inconsistency. You go straight from "its" to "her" in one line, with redundancy:

its history, culture and her modernityquote>

This would be better:

her history, culture, and modernityquote>

This would be best:

its history, culture, and modernityquote>

[ilikehotdogsalot 311]

I guess you wouldn't like the Spanish language, most of the objects have genders

[belfastuniguy 18]

@Duke - The subtitle is not permanent, it will change with each update, as it just has done. I will continue to use her whenever I see fit though

[Zezug 6]

The Titanic Quarter eh? better watch out for icebergs

I had to get that out of my system, sorry, looks good though

[Yoman3 5]

I have a question, just curiosity. But why is Belfast so proud of building the Titanic? The thing sank and was proven to have shoddy construction after all, perhaps some of the other ships built there would've been better to proud of?

[Explodingsims 3]

Well, how many people know of many of the other ships built there. It's just the most famous.

The new plans there look cool. I like how they're keeping Sampson and Goliath there too.

Makes for a unique landmark!

[belfastuniguy 18]

Originally posted by: Yoman3

I have a question, just curiosity. But why is Belfast so proud of building the Titanic? The thing sank and was proven to have shoddy construction after all, perhaps some of the other ships built there would've been better to proud of? quote>

It did sink yes, but at the time it and her sister ships were the largest and most advanced in the world. Its simply called Titanic Quarter becuase that's the area in which it was built, and as mentioned it is most likely the most famous ship in history.

The area will not solely be about Titanic, but serve as a living museum to the city's maritime heritage and of the shipyard and the thousands of ships they built. It was for a long time the largest shipyard in the world building some of the most iconic ships to ever sail, of which Titanic is the most famous. During WWII it built over 140 naval ships and repaired nearly 22,000 naval ships. The shipyard was also home to one of the worlds first and proper aircraft manufacturing facility in 1908 (Short Brothers)

It also wasn't shoddy construction, no ship in that era could have stayed afloat with that many compartments flooded. Had it hit the iceberg head on, it would have survived, just a terrible accident, one that revolutionised maritime safety.

Well, how many people know of many of the other ships built there. It's just the most famous.

The new plans there look cool. I like how they're keeping Sampson and Goliath there too.

Makes for a unique landmark! quote>

Of course we're keeping them Icons of the city and they are listed landmarks

[yellowguy88 1]

Wow the whole project is amazing!The crystalline Titanic Experience building is oddly similar to the Grand Canal Square area in Dublin.. i wonder are they by the same Architect?

[Yoman3 5]

Originally posted by: belfastuniguy

Originally posted by: Yoman3

I have a question, just curiosity. But why is Belfast so proud of building the Titanic? The thing sank and was proven to have shoddy construction after all, perhaps some of the other ships built there would've been better to proud of? quote>

It did sink yes, but at the time it and her sister ships were the largest and most advanced in the world. Its simply called Titanic Quarter becuase that's the area in which it was built, and as mentioned it is most likely the most famous ship in history.

The area will not solely be about Titanic, but serve as a living museum to the city's maritime heritage and of the shipyard and the thousands of ships they built. It was for a long time the largest shipyard in the world building some of the most iconic ships to ever sail, of which Titanic is the most famous. During WWII it built over 140 naval ships and repaired nearly 22,000 naval ships. The shipyard was also home to one of the worlds first and proper aircraft manufacturing facility in 1908 (Short Brothers)

It also wasn't shoddy construction, no ship in that era could have stayed afloat with that many compartments flooded. Had it hit the iceberg head on, it would have survived, just a terrible accident, one that revolutionised maritime safety.

Well, how many people know of many of the other ships built there. It's just the most famous.

The new plans there look cool. I like how they're keeping Sampson and Goliath there too.

Makes for a unique landmark! quote>

Of course we're keeping them Icons of the city and they are listed landmarks

quote>

Figured thats why, though it was shoddy construction, or materials acctually. Very poor quailty rivets and steel or something like that, had a whole thing on it on the Discovery Channel a year ago or so. I'm not sure if Harland and Woff bought the materials or whatever, but they think that it contributed alot to the size of the gashes.

[Merlin of Flyote 8]

Originally posted by: Yoman3

Originally posted by: belfastuniguy

Originally posted by: Yoman3

I have a question, just curiosity. But why is Belfast so proud of building the Titanic? The thing sank and was proven to have shoddy construction after all, perhaps some of the other ships built there would've been better to proud of? quote>

Figured thats why, though it was shoddy construction, or materials acctually. Very poor quailty rivets and steel or something like that, had a whole thing on it on the Discovery Channel a year ago or so. I'm not sure if Harland and Woff bought the materials or whatever, but they think that it contributed alot to the size of the gashes.

quote>

There was a program on this not so long ago. There was a design fault in the expansion joint. This caused the ship to split into two. It also happened to the Britainic. but I think was altered for the Olympic, which was in service until the 1930's.

The Titanic (1912) was warned not to go through the iceberg field, but the warnings were ignored. The head of the White Star Line was aboard and wanted to make a record breaking crossing, to divert would have meant not achieving it.

Apparently it was foretold. So the story goes:- A book was written about 1880(?) by Eustace Roberts of a ship called the TITAN which sank on it's maiden voyage from New York to Liverpool.

[jotauveefe 24]

The Titanic masterplan seems to be beautiful!

[airman15 4,113]

These are very good plans, but the number one thing i'd like to see is the return of the Olympic Class Ships and have them built at Harland and Wolff shipyards

[airman15 4,113]

I have a question, just curiosity. But why is Belfast so proud of building the Titanic? The thing sank and was proven to have shoddy construction after all, perhaps some of the other ships built there would've been better to proud of?

Because the workers at Harland and Wolff took pride in building the largest ships in the world. In fact, the entire town was proud of it. Just like the motto on the stained glass windows say "Not as Catholics or Protestants, Not as Nationalists or Unionists but as Belfast Workers Standing Together"