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a planning application in March 1997 (Z/1997/2189) proposing alterations to the shop frontages, but the application was withdrawn in June 1997.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.