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Belfast Buildings Preservation Trust moved to its new home in the Gate Lodge in January 2010. Built in 1867 as the residence for the caretaker to the Good Shepherd Convent, the Gate Lodge has long been a landmark for commuters and locals alike on the Ormeau Road in south Belfast. It was designed by Sherry & Hughes who also designed the convent building to the rear. Extended with a rear return in 1898, the still small Gate Lodge remains structurally unaltered since then.
The Gate Lodge ceased to be a family residence in the mid-1970s with the last family to live there including grandparents, parents and seven children. The building quickly fell into disrepair, despite its very visible location on one of Belfast’s major arterial routes, and between 1974 and 2009 the building suffered from significant vandalism and neglect.
In early 2009 BBPT acquired the building with support from the NIEA Acquisitions Fund (administered by the Architectural Heritage Fund) and set about restoring the building as its new home. Using only its own funds and support from the NIEA Historic Buildings Grant the Trust restored the Gate Lodge at a cost of £160,000. During the restoration work, three previously bricked up gothic windows were uncovered and reinstated, giving the ground floor office a wonderful view into the wooded grounds of the Good Shepherd Centre.
The local community have expressed great delight at the Gate Lodge being brought back to life. Interest in the building has been tremendous, and particularly evident with the huge numbers of visitors that it received for European Heritage Open Day. People are particularly pleased at how the building has been restored to its Victorian character. Floorboards, tiles, window frames and internal doors have all been reused. Most particularly the building’s striking red exterior marks it out as a vital piece of Belfast’s built heritage and a fitting exemplar for the work of the Trust.
