Windsor House (Belfast)

Windsor House (officially known as 9-15 Bedford Street) was a 23-story, 80 m high-rise building on Bedford Street in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The building was the tallest storeyed building in Northern Ireland before being surpassed by Obel Tower (also in Belfast) and stands at 85 metres (279 feet) tall, with 28 floors.[1] The total structural height is actually taller than the Obel, if you include the two plant floors and radio mast it stands at 93m(305ft) tall.

Constructed in 1974[2] as an office building, Windsor House has a tall green elevator shaft and green side wall facade, as well as satellite and aerial masts, which stand a further seven metres in the air.

The building was badly damaged in an IRA bombing in 1992.[2] It was sold for £30m in 2006 to County Cavan building firm P Elliot. In March 2007 plans were made to convert the building into a block of flats. However, the conversion plans fell through.

In May 2015, Hastings Hotel Group, an NI-based hospitality company, purchased the building for £6.5m. A planning application was submitted on 23 June 2015, proposing refurbishment, partial demolition and rebuilding, extension and change of use of Windsor House for a hotel (304 bedrooms) with associated restaurant and bar facilities (on ground to 15th floor) and 18 serviced hotel apartments on the 16 and the 17th floors; creation of new retail unit on ground floor overlooking Franklin Street; retention and refurbishment and extension of office use (25,000 ft2) on upper floors (18th to 22nd floor).[3] The planning application was approved 20 October 2015 and redevelopment work commenced in July 2016. Following a £30m refurbishment, the new hotel opened in 2018 as the Grand Central Hotel.[2]

  • Windsor House in 2006
    Windsor House in 2006
  • Windsor House in May 2010
    Windsor House in May 2010
  • Windsor House refurbishment
    Windsor House refurbishment
  • The Grand Central Hotel after refurbishment, 2018
    The Grand Central Hotel after refurbishment, 2018
  1. ^ "Z/2011/0577/F | Continuation of curtain walling glazing system to the ground floor of blocks 2 and 3 elevations including provision of entrance doors | Donegall Quay Belfast BT1 3EE". epicpublic.planningni.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Cromie, Claire (24 June 2015). "Belfast Grand Central Hotel: Hastings unveils plan to transform Windsor House into a £30m hotel". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  3. ^ "9 - 15 Bedford Street | Windsor House - futurebelfast.com". www.futurebelfast.com. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016.