0:00:02 > 0:00:05The story of the buildings of Ulster is the story of the people who
0:00:05 > 0:00:09have lived on this land and left their mark on its history.
0:00:10 > 0:00:15And here, history has left us with a remarkable legacy of buildings.
0:00:15 > 0:00:20From ancient forts and mighty castles to prestigious public buildings
0:00:20 > 0:00:22and grand country houses.
0:00:37 > 0:00:41These historic buildings are windows into our past.
0:00:41 > 0:00:45But Ulster's architectural heritage is not just about extraordinary
0:00:45 > 0:00:48buildings, it tells the story of how these structures
0:00:48 > 0:00:52and the people who created them were shaped by history.
0:00:52 > 0:00:54A story written in stone.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13In the early 19th century, Belfast was a provincial town owned
0:01:13 > 0:01:17entirely by just one family - the Donegalls.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21Their ancestor, an English soldier named Sir Arthur Chichester,
0:01:21 > 0:01:23had been granted Belfast in the early 17th century,
0:01:23 > 0:01:27after it had been taken from the local O'Neill clan.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31The Donegall family was responsible for the growth
0:01:31 > 0:01:35and development of Belfast as a Georgian town.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37But their influence was not to last.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42By the time the Donegalls completed Belfast Castle in the late 1870s,
0:01:42 > 0:01:47the city it looked down upon was no longer theirs.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54Earlier in the 19th century, the second Marquess,
0:01:54 > 0:01:57a compulsive gambler who had taken refuge in Belfast to
0:01:57 > 0:02:00escape his creditors, had lost it all.
0:02:00 > 0:02:04The press nicknamed him, the Marquess of Done 'Em All.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07MUSIC: "An Der Schonen Blauen Donau" by Johann Strauss.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15The provincial Georgian town was about to become a major
0:02:15 > 0:02:20Victorian city, an industrial powerhouse.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24All, in part, thanks to one man's love of gambling.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29To try and clear his debts, in 1822, Donegall
0:02:29 > 0:02:33and his son were forced to sell long term leases on their land.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36Now others could put that property to use and the way was
0:02:36 > 0:02:41clear for industrialists and architects to reimagine Belfast.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53The transformation of Belfast into a great industrial city
0:02:53 > 0:02:58in the 19th century was driven by linen.
0:02:58 > 0:02:59Distinctive red brick chimneys,
0:02:59 > 0:03:02like these on the magnificent Jennymount Mill,
0:03:02 > 0:03:07characterised the silhouette of the city as Belfast became
0:03:07 > 0:03:11the leading linen producing centre in the world.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14Indeed, it became known as Linenopolis.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18The cloth produced at mills like Jennymount created the truly
0:03:18 > 0:03:22phenomenal wealth that built the Victorian city.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26Rows and rows of terraced houses were hastily built under
0:03:26 > 0:03:28the shadow of the mills.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30Thousands flocked from the countryside
0:03:30 > 0:03:34seeking work in this new industrial city.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37MUSIC: "Variations On An Original Theme: Enigma" by Edward Elgar.
0:03:44 > 0:03:50To thrive as an industrial city, Belfast needed a major harbour.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54From the 1850s, the development of this vital resource was
0:03:54 > 0:03:59overseen from this building - the offices of the Harbour Commissioners.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26Facing the main entrance is this splendid stained-glass window.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30In the centre, an image of Neptune sitting on a packing case
0:04:30 > 0:04:36and, to one side, a cornucopia, a haul of plenty, spilling fruits
0:04:36 > 0:04:41and flowers onto the ground and below Neptune, an open ledger.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44This represents, as it says here, commerce.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48And to each side of Neptune are representations of the activities
0:04:48 > 0:04:53that led to Belfast becoming so wealthy in the 19th century.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57The top left is a shell, representing navigation.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00Below that, Canadian beavers, engineering.
0:05:04 > 0:05:09In the top right, a very charming rendering of a couple of spiders making their webs,
0:05:09 > 0:05:15so, spinning, and below that a bird making its nest, weaving.
0:05:29 > 0:05:31The Harbour Commissioner's Office looks much the same as it
0:05:31 > 0:05:34would have done in the 19th century.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36These portraits that line the walls represent
0:05:36 > 0:05:40a generation of successful entrepreneurs.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47And even the site on which this building stands was associated
0:05:47 > 0:05:49with another industry.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52One for which Belfast was to become world-famous
0:05:52 > 0:05:54by the end of the 19th century.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58Because it stood within the shipyard that was owned by this man -
0:05:58 > 0:06:03William Ritchie, the Scots born shipbuilder.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05This portrait shows Ritchie in later life,
0:06:05 > 0:06:09but in the late 18th century, with his brother Hugh,
0:06:09 > 0:06:12he pioneered shipbuilding in Belfast,
0:06:12 > 0:06:15launching it is one of the city's major industries.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24The scene was set for success.
0:06:24 > 0:06:29Ships made in Belfast would set sail or steam all over the world
0:06:29 > 0:06:31and goods would make their way back.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36But as the port grew busier, a problem emerged.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39The shallow water at the mouth of the quays could not accommodate
0:06:39 > 0:06:40larger ships.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45Of course, Belfast had a problem as a port, didn't it?
0:06:45 > 0:06:47By nature, the water wasn't deep enough
0:06:47 > 0:06:50and the water approach was too meandering.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53Yes, it used to be very muddy
0:06:53 > 0:06:57and the large place then was Carrickfergus
0:06:57 > 0:06:59and Belfast really was quite small.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02And then, they really got their act together,
0:07:02 > 0:07:04about the 1830s they got some money
0:07:04 > 0:07:11and they began to dig two cuts through the bends of the channel.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15OK, they wanted to get the greater depth for larger ships?
0:07:15 > 0:07:16That's right.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19And the people who developed the harbour, financially,
0:07:19 > 0:07:22were all the merchants and local traders.
0:07:22 > 0:07:24They were very well off.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26Tell me about the importance of the Victoria Channel.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29It wasn't just important, it was vital, it was crucial to
0:07:29 > 0:07:34the development of the harbour, to the development of the city.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36Because without the Victoria Channel,
0:07:36 > 0:07:40after all that that dredging, they just couldn't have got into
0:07:40 > 0:07:42this place, so they would have gone elsewhere.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44So it is probably one of the most important
0:07:44 > 0:07:48channels in the history of the north of Ireland, or of Ireland.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51And they were very wise to make the cut.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54And they were very determined, I mean they were determined,
0:07:54 > 0:07:57but those were the people who really wouldn't take
0:07:57 > 0:07:59no for an answer, because the government of the day wasn't
0:07:59 > 0:08:04very helpful, nor the landlord, so they had to help themselves.
0:08:04 > 0:08:10And it paid off hugely, not only for them but also for posterity.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13OK, so the water's made navigable for large ships,
0:08:13 > 0:08:16but also part of the process is to reclaim land
0:08:16 > 0:08:19and that land is used for industrial shipbuilding.
0:08:19 > 0:08:21I mean, Harland and Wolff, I can see it from here.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25This is the consequence, isn't it? A huge area the city's created for industry.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28It really was quite simple.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32The mud from Victoria Channel then became Queen's Island.
0:08:32 > 0:08:36So their work really made Belfast what it is today.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40So, I mean, this port, this building breathes history.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53Belfast's growing industrial success had further consequences
0:08:53 > 0:08:57for its development. As their businesses grew and prospered,
0:08:57 > 0:09:01local entrepreneurs found themselves in need of professional help
0:09:01 > 0:09:04to manage their burgeoning profits.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07In Belfast, this was in short supply
0:09:07 > 0:09:10and Dublin was a 12 hour coach journey away.
0:09:16 > 0:09:21This splendid building looks like a mansion, a gentleman's club,
0:09:21 > 0:09:26a museum or even a church. In fact, it was designed as a bank.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31In the 1830s, a group of Belfast merchants
0:09:31 > 0:09:33launched the Ulster Banking Company.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37Today a five-star hotel, it reflects the pride, pomp
0:09:37 > 0:09:42and circumstance of the financial professions in the Victorian era.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46This decoration is loaded with meaning.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52Up there in that semicircular panel is a youth, a putti,
0:09:52 > 0:09:56clutching a big bundle of corn, so raw prosperity.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00Next door, another panel shows urban, industrial prosperity.
0:10:00 > 0:10:05A putti clutches a great hammer. Behind him, a cogwheel.
0:10:05 > 0:10:10And on here, above the capitals of the columns, one can see,
0:10:10 > 0:10:14again, putti, little children representing, in that case,
0:10:14 > 0:10:19painting. Then there is the one with the harp so that's music and poetry.
0:10:19 > 0:10:27Industry, science, I suppose, and sculpture all the civilised virtues
0:10:27 > 0:10:31and these images within a wonderful and fashionable for the time,
0:10:31 > 0:10:34Classical Renaissance interior,
0:10:34 > 0:10:37giving banking the pedigree of history
0:10:37 > 0:10:42so this speaks of prosperity, of solidity, of trustworthiness
0:10:42 > 0:10:47and I suppose it makes it clear that making money, profits,
0:10:47 > 0:10:50are not just civilised but also good for you.
0:10:53 > 0:10:58Tell me about the architectural inspiration for this building?
0:10:58 > 0:11:02Grimshaw and Heron, the two directors went across and did a trip
0:11:02 > 0:11:03to Glasgow and Edinburgh.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07They brought back what they felt were the best elements
0:11:07 > 0:11:10of the Scottish banks who had been at it for a few decades.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14- I see, so they wrote a brief for the building they wanted?- Yes.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17Then there was the competition of course.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20That was quite common in those days and they got a very good response.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22They got over 100 applications,
0:11:22 > 0:11:25they offered £100 as a premium to the winner.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28The result was that the commission went to
0:11:28 > 0:11:33quite a young Scottish architect called James Hamilton.
0:11:34 > 0:11:39It's important to remember that this building, completed in 1860,
0:11:39 > 0:11:43in terms of scale, it is very fashionable, Italianate architecture,
0:11:43 > 0:11:47the stone, quite an outstanding building.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49Yes, people were very proud of it, they really were.
0:11:49 > 0:11:53They wanted the place to look as magnificent as it could
0:11:53 > 0:11:56and it had to give confidence to the people coming in.
0:11:56 > 0:12:04A London periodical described it as being "massive, earnest,
0:12:04 > 0:12:06"rich and suitable."
0:12:06 > 0:12:10Do you reckon opening the bank in the 1830s was a statement in the sense of
0:12:10 > 0:12:15Belfast coming of age, reaching independence, going it alone?
0:12:15 > 0:12:22Yes, the men who started the banks in Ulster were actually a fine body of men.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26They were on the liberal side of Belfast society.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29The men who were involved with this were on the committees
0:12:29 > 0:12:32that were improving the Port of Belfast.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36They were driving that forward, too.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38On a lot of levels,
0:12:38 > 0:12:44this was the seat of the Belfast of the mid-19th century.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51Bankers, shipbuilders and linen lords
0:12:51 > 0:12:54wanted to leave their mark on the city.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57So they enlisted the services of a talented architect
0:12:57 > 0:13:02who himself became another Belfast success story.
0:13:02 > 0:13:07Charles Lanyon did much to define the appearance of early Victorian Belfast.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11He specialised in public and institutional buildings,
0:13:11 > 0:13:14often designed in a baffling array of styles.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18One of the most important buildings designed in the early 16th century
0:13:18 > 0:13:23Tudor Gothic manner is this, Queen's University.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30The university was opened in 1849 by Queen Victoria
0:13:30 > 0:13:33and Prince Albert and on their visit to the city,
0:13:33 > 0:13:38a visit cut short by five hours because of an outbreak of cholera.
0:13:40 > 0:13:45They would have walked through this gate here, beneath this tower,
0:13:45 > 0:13:51a tower inspired by the Gothic towers of Oxford and Cambridge
0:13:51 > 0:13:55a connection that would have linked this new university
0:13:55 > 0:14:01to the old university, have given this new university a lustre of ancient learning.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07This was a good time to be an architect.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11Belfast businessmen wanted to build a new Jerusalem,
0:14:11 > 0:14:16a city that would reflect the elevated image they had of themselves.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19The buildings that Charles Lanyon helped them to create
0:14:19 > 0:14:22would tell a new story of prosperity and confidence,
0:14:22 > 0:14:26a tale of a city of industry which deserved its place
0:14:26 > 0:14:29at the heart of Victoria's Empire.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32Can you tell me about Charles Lanyon?
0:14:32 > 0:14:36He intrigues me because he is not just an architect,
0:14:36 > 0:14:41he is very involved in all aspects of social life here?
0:14:41 > 0:14:44Yes, he is from England and he comes first to Dublin
0:14:44 > 0:14:46and then he becomes the county surveyor for Antrim
0:14:46 > 0:14:49which is that early part of his career, the engineering part.
0:14:49 > 0:14:54He develops the railway up the north coast and he develops bridges
0:14:54 > 0:14:58and he is influential in road structure so that infrastructure period of time.
0:14:58 > 0:15:05Then, as he develops more in the 1840s, as the town starts to engage more with its civic pride,
0:15:05 > 0:15:10he becomes the architect to go to for all the public buildings.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13They're by competition but he is very well placed
0:15:13 > 0:15:16and he is a Freemason and he is embedded within the local culture
0:15:16 > 0:15:19and he settles in Whiteabbey and he is entirely entrenched here
0:15:19 > 0:15:24so this is Lanyon's Belfast between the late 1840s...
0:15:24 > 0:15:26- The key public buildings are his. - Yes.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28What is intriguing, he was working at a very crucial moment
0:15:28 > 0:15:31in the history of British architecture, the dilemma of styles.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33Many people said you should build Gothic
0:15:33 > 0:15:37because Gothic was a better architecture. It was Christian, somehow indigenous.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40But Lanyon was seen to be quite happy to build in the Gothic
0:15:40 > 0:15:44or Classical styles, depending on the circumstances.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47Lanyon was great at following the brief of his client,
0:15:47 > 0:15:50that the building shouldn't be a mystery to the person looking at it,
0:15:50 > 0:15:52that you should be able to look at the building
0:15:52 > 0:15:54and then be able to tell what it's meant to be.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57You have a space like Queens College which is in the Tudor style
0:15:57 > 0:16:00and that reminds you of Oxford and Cambridge and the seats of learning.
0:16:00 > 0:16:04If it's banking, you want to remind yourself of the Italian city states
0:16:04 > 0:16:07and how noble and serious they were and how well founded.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11So the Victorians are like that and Lanyon was very happy to please.
0:16:12 > 0:16:17This is the character that made these great Victorian cities
0:16:17 > 0:16:21in the British Isles, be it Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool or Belfast.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24In the time of Lanyon, Belfast was establishing a reputation
0:16:24 > 0:16:27as an import and export town, a town of commerce
0:16:27 > 0:16:31and then developing industry but it wants to be so much more
0:16:31 > 0:16:36and Lanyon's career marks the transition from that more humble space
0:16:36 > 0:16:40to the town and when he dies, Belfast has just become a city.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43His entire career is a trajectory of the city developing.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49Lanyon had ambition for Belfast.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52He wanted to create buildings worthy of a great city
0:16:52 > 0:16:59so he gave his designs the pedigree of history in an attempt to raise them above the commonplace.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06Even the grim functional design of the Crumlin Road jail
0:17:06 > 0:17:08was state-of-the-art.
0:17:08 > 0:17:13In its day, this was Ireland's most modern building.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15The population explosion that happened in Belfast
0:17:15 > 0:17:20in the 19th century meant massive social change.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22Lanyon's hand was seen everywhere,
0:17:22 > 0:17:27from houses of correction to the palaces of leisure.
0:17:27 > 0:17:32The Palm House, designed by Lanyon and William Turner,
0:17:32 > 0:17:36is one of the earliest curved cast iron glasshouses anywhere in the world.
0:17:36 > 0:17:44It was opened in 1840 but the Botanic Gardens remained closed to the public except on Sundays.
0:17:44 > 0:17:50Recreation in this industrial city was still sharply defined by class.
0:18:08 > 0:18:12This is one of the very best Victorian pubs to survive
0:18:12 > 0:18:15anywhere in the British Isles.
0:18:15 > 0:18:21It's a gin palace created in about 1885, a place of escape
0:18:21 > 0:18:26from the perhaps grim realities of daily life in the great industrial city.
0:18:26 > 0:18:31It's a sparkling fairyland of colour and rich detail.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35Look at the wonderful stained glass windows over there
0:18:35 > 0:18:37and the stained glass here in the booths.
0:18:37 > 0:18:42Tremendous carving here, heraldic beasts above the booths
0:18:42 > 0:18:47and tremendous gilded cast iron here on wonderful columns.
0:18:47 > 0:18:49A lovely floor of tiles.
0:18:49 > 0:18:54Gas lights are absolutely wonderful and an altar-like bar,
0:18:54 > 0:19:01a place of veneration, marble topped and a lovely tiled base.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04Terrific, absolutely wonderful.
0:19:21 > 0:19:25The interior also reflects a social hierarchy
0:19:25 > 0:19:28of late 19th century Belfast.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31Working men or people just wanting a quick pint would gather
0:19:31 > 0:19:33here by the bar.
0:19:33 > 0:19:38People wanting more privacy or more comfort would go to one of the booths
0:19:38 > 0:19:44or snugs, each one has its own letter and this is Booth F.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51The people using the booths would be members of the professional class
0:19:51 > 0:19:58and no doubt include mill managers, not wanting to mix with their workforce, drinking outside.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01Also there could be groups of women.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04Clearly, privacy was all-important.
0:20:04 > 0:20:09The windows are obscured by the beautiful stained-glass
0:20:09 > 0:20:15and the booths are very high and totally enclosed when the door is closed.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20When you're ready for your drink, you press the bell.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24The disc moves for Booth F, the waiter arrives,
0:20:24 > 0:20:30you place your order and then, in comes your pint.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32Your pint, Sir.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41You would pay an extra penny on your pint
0:20:41 > 0:20:45because this comfort and convenience came at a price.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59A flurry of construction towards the end of the 19th century
0:20:59 > 0:21:03obliterated much of the older town. Only fragments remain.
0:21:05 > 0:21:12The Victorian city fathers set about clearing the slums around what would become the modern city centre.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20Few towns anywhere in the British Isles had seen such rapid expansion.
0:21:20 > 0:21:26As Belfast grew, the centre moved from High Street to Donegal Square.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33This map shows Belfast in 1791.
0:21:33 > 0:21:38Then only little larger than the plantation town of the early 17th century.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41Here we see the remains of the river,
0:21:41 > 0:21:45providing quays for ships to load and unload.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49Only part of the river has been bridged across to form the High Street.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52To the south of the built-up area is the White Linen Hall,
0:21:52 > 0:21:54still outside the town proper.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58That is where the City Hall was to be built
0:21:58 > 0:22:01and is very near to where I am now, in the Linen Hall Library.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05This map tells us that the population of the city in 1791
0:22:05 > 0:22:09was 18,320 people.
0:22:09 > 0:22:15Here, you see the population in 1891
0:22:15 > 0:22:22was 255,950 people huge increase.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29Belfast is very much a Victorian city.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33The buildings of its centrepiece, Donegal Square,
0:22:33 > 0:22:35testify to its success.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41These are buildings, not just for a city of finance and industry,
0:22:41 > 0:22:43but those of a city of culture.
0:22:43 > 0:22:45A capital city.
0:22:49 > 0:22:56Saturday, 13 October 1888 is a pivotal date for Belfast.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00On that day, Lord Londonderry, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland,
0:23:00 > 0:23:05made the announcement Belfast had longed to hear.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08Queen Victoria had granted them a Royal Charter.
0:23:08 > 0:23:15Belfast was now officially a city. The local press were jubilant.
0:23:15 > 0:23:21Belfast had long been tired of playing second fiddle to Dublin.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23The city of industry needed just one more building
0:23:23 > 0:23:27to declare its newfound status to the world.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30A monumental City Hall.
0:23:33 > 0:23:40This is one of the great public buildings from the twilight years of the British Empire.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43It's a triumphalist affair, full of imperial pomp
0:23:43 > 0:23:49that proclaims the pride, the wealth, the industrial might of Belfast.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00Belfast already had a town hall built as recently as 1871,
0:24:00 > 0:24:03but it was deemed not prestigious enough.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07The corporation now sought a new and grander home.
0:24:07 > 0:24:12In 1888, a young English architect, Alfred Brumwell Thomas,
0:24:12 > 0:24:17won the contract to design a bold and dignified City Hall.
0:24:18 > 0:24:20An exponent of the Baroque revival,
0:24:20 > 0:24:24Brumwell Thomas used only the best materials
0:24:24 > 0:24:26Portland stone from Dorset,
0:24:26 > 0:24:30rare marbles transported at great expense from Greece and Rome,
0:24:30 > 0:24:34would make this a very costly building.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38The entrance hall and staircase are astonishing.
0:24:38 > 0:24:45They express civic power and achievement through the language of imperial power.
0:24:45 > 0:24:50This is the beginning of a stupendous journey through the building.
0:24:57 > 0:25:05It's all to do with the ostentatious display of wealth with lavish beauty.
0:25:05 > 0:25:09Just look at these sensational columns.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13Each made of a single piece of green marble.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16Beautiful and rare, lovely things.
0:25:16 > 0:25:21No wonder the building cost twice its original estimate,
0:25:21 > 0:25:27that's a total of nearly £360,000 in 1906.
0:25:37 > 0:25:42In its mighty scale and ambition, this is the Titanic of City Halls
0:25:42 > 0:25:46and that is hardly surprising since William Perry,
0:25:46 > 0:25:51the curator of the Titanic, was Lord Mayor of Belfast in 1896
0:25:51 > 0:25:56and 1897, when the design of this building was agreed.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01This little room, the Lord Mayor's dressing room,
0:26:01 > 0:26:04was created by men who were to work on the Titanic.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15In a city which built ships with names like Leviathan,
0:26:15 > 0:26:20Majestic, Olympic and of course Titanic, it now seems obvious
0:26:20 > 0:26:26that its new City Hall would be the biggest and the best money could buy.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30Some mocked it as the wedding cake at a pauper's funeral.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33Others rejoiced that Kubla Khan's enchanted palace
0:26:33 > 0:26:36faded into the commonplace beside it.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41The mighty City Hall, seen here from Royal Avenue,
0:26:41 > 0:26:47symbolised the culmination of the transformation of Belfast during the 19th-century
0:26:47 > 0:26:51into the commercial and industrial capital of Ireland.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58People everywhere define themselves
0:26:58 > 0:27:00and are defined by their architecture.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05From the streets of Belfast to sacred spaces,
0:27:05 > 0:27:09from country houses to ancient strongholds.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16From the earliest times of the modern era, the buildings of Ulster
0:27:16 > 0:27:20offer a unique perspective on the life of its people.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22This is their history, written in stone.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27That history is still being written.
0:27:27 > 0:27:32At Belfast's old shipyard, this new Titanic museum is both
0:27:32 > 0:27:36a celebration of the past and a legacy for the generations to come.
0:27:38 > 0:27:42This 21st-century building aims to have the same impact
0:27:42 > 0:27:47as the City Hall completed just over 100 years earlier.
0:27:47 > 0:27:52It intends to evoke a sense of civic pride and identity
0:27:52 > 0:27:55and, in addition, to encourage all of us
0:27:55 > 0:27:59to connect with the history of this great city of industry.
0:28:41 > 0:28:45Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd