Linen Quarter, Belfast
The Linen Quarter is host to some of the major cultural venues of Belfast, including the Ulster Hall and Grand Opera House, alongside a large number of hotels, bars, restaurants and cafes.
The linen trade that used to dominate this part of the city has now been replaced by international consultancy firms and many technology start ups.
[citation needed] Belfast City Council and a number of central government departments are also headquartered in the Linen Quarter.
Since the formation of Linen Quarter BID in 2018, however, the district is often considered to have a wider footprint that includes the Europa Transport Hub and parts of Dublin Road.
The theatre was expected to accommodate opera, variety, pantomime and circus and could be adapted to fulfil the varying requirements of each type of entertainment.
A source of immense civic pride on its opening, the building was a sign of Belfast's growing maturity as a town and an acknowledgement among its industrious merchants of the importance of ‘relaxation, pleasure and enjoyment’.
[citation needed] This three storey sandstone building was built for the Bedford Street Weaving Company by James Hamilton of Glasgow in 1869.
In 1876 it was purchased by William Ewart and Son, one of the world's leading linen manufacturers who owned mills, warehouses and offices throughout Belfast and beyond.
The six-storey multi-bay modernist BBC Broadcasting House was completed in 1939 to the designs of architect James Millar and features a distinctive steel framed, polychromatic brick building.
The Queen Anne Style red brick building contained both individual baths and a swimming pool and, with its sister establishments in the rest of Belfast, greatly improved hygiene in the city.
The church's vaulted ceiling, described as ‘an upside down wedding cake’, was inspired by the Henry VII chapel in Westminster Abbey.
In 1978, the National Trust, purchased the Crown Liquor Saloon following a public campaign led by influential conservationists including Sir John Betjeman.
Francis Joy (3 August 1697 – 10 June 1790) established Belfast's first paper mill along the Blackstaff River,[4] on grounds near the eastern end of today's Ormeau Avenue.
Joy was an entrepreneur who founded the Belfast News Letter in 1737 (thereby making it the oldest continuously running English language daily newspaper) and developed the family business to include papermaking due to a shortage of paper for his newsletters.
[citation needed] Sir William Tyrone Guthrie (2 July 1900 – 15 May 1971) voiced BBC Northern Ireland's first broadcast when it launched on 15 September 1924 from its studio located in Linenhall Street.
