17-21 Donegall Place, BT1 5FE
About Fountain House
Fountain House, located at 17-21 Donegall Place in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is a notable five-storey building extending along Fountain Lane to 18-26 Fountain Street. Designed by the architectural firm Young & Mackenzie, it was constructed between 1935 and 1937 to accommodate two ground-floor retail units with offices above. The building was originally named Moore House, as it occupied the former site of James Moore Ltd, a company specialising in stationery manufacturing, including account books, lithography, type printing, and engraving. It was later renamed Fountain House.
Site Context and Current Use
Situated on Donegall Place, Belfast's primary retail thoroughfare, Fountain House holds a prominent position in the city's commercial landscape. The area experiences high pedestrian footfall and is surrounded by major retailers, including Boots, Stradivarius, Zara, Marks & Spencer, Next, and DV8. The building offers access from both Donegall Place and Fountain Street, with additional pedestrian and service entrances on Fountain Lane.
Historical Overview
Early Occupants: Clothing retailer Etam occupied No. 17 from at least 1943 until relocating to 51-53 Donegall Place in 1997. Chocolate retailer Thornton's occupied No. 21 from approximately 1986 until around 2002.
Redevelopment Efforts: Deramore Property Group submitted a planning application in March 1997 (Z/1997/2189) proposing alterations to the shop frontages, but the application was withdrawn in June 1997. Later, in September 2001, Deramore Holdings Ltd proposed redeveloping the building to provide a retail unit at ground and first-floor levels, with storage on new second and third floors (Z/2001/2278/O). This plan involved replacing the four upper floors with three new ones while retaining the external stonework facades and was approved in October 2002.
Major Renovation: Redevelopment commenced in 2005 (Z/2005/0190/F), involving the demolition of the interior structure while retaining the listed façade. Completed in July 2007, the renovation led to the opening of a new 48,000-square-foot store by clothing retailer New Look on November 2, 2007.
Ownership Changes: M&G Property Portfolio acquired the building for £13.4 million in August 2014.
Recent Tenants: New Look closed its Fountain House store in November 2018. Subsequently, Primark acquired the building in December 2018 and opened a second Belfast location there on April 16, 2019, in response to the Bank Buildings fire in August 2018.
Opening of Primark Home
In November 2024, Primark submitted a planning application (LA04/2024/1979/A) revealing plans for Primark's first standalone homeware store, 'Primark Home'. The new retail concept represents a £2 million investment in Belfast city centre and has created 43 new jobs. Primark announced that Primark Home would open on 6th March.
Project Information
Project Team
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