A new public housing development at Dromore Street in Banbridge looks to the past.
The Northern Ireland Housing Agency is offering tenants newly built, Georgian style homes in Banbridge, County Down.
The luxury of a newly built home in the Georgian style is something well beyond the pockets of most people.
The Northern Ireland Housing Agency has completed the first of three Georgian style terraces. The intention behind the project is to maintain the character of the street, echoing the original houses that once stood there. To enhance the effect, the cobblestone streets have been recreated using precast concrete slabs.
The three and four bedroom houses are built on a split level design and cost around ten per cent more to construct than standard homes. This additional cost is reflected in the weekly rent, currently set at eight pounds. When all three terraces are finished, the development will comprise 35 homes. The concept was inspired by a pilot scheme in Tandragee, completed three years earlier.
While demolition and reconstruction continue in many areas of Northern Ireland efforts are also being made to preserve historical buildings. The earliest examples of Belfast industrial housing from Sandy Row have been carefully dismantled and rebuilt, brick by brick, not on their original site, but at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. Dr Alan Gailey a director and the keeper of buildings at the museum, explains the aim to recreate the living conditions of past generations. This project offers buildings that represent a small 19th‑century Ulster town, with structures dating back to the 18th century.
Dr Alan Gailey explains that this work is fundamentally different from the Banbridge project. While he appreciates its aesthetic the Banbridge houses cannot be considered preservation.
The architect behind the Banbridge development, Wilson Robinson, outlines the reasoning for the Georgian style. He was instructed by Banbridge District Council to recreate the Georgian façade, following the example set in Tandragee. He emphasises that although the development provides much needed homes, it is not intended to spark a renaissance in Georgian architecture.
A pleasant looking, functional terrace block of family homes.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 20 April 1976. The reporter is Olivia O'Leary.
