Morning View: Bank Buildings a rare example of history preserved

The flagship Primark store at Bank Buildings in Belfast reopened yesterday, with some shoppers queuing from the early hours to get inside.

Many of us will be a little puzzled that a discount fashion chain can generate so much excitement.

Nonetheless, the refurbishment of a significant historical building, and the return of a major employer to Belfast city centre, is an occasion to celebrate.

When the listed building burned down in 2018, there were genuine concerns that it could not be restored.

The work to recreate its façade was by all accounts complex and intricate, requiring the skills of stonemasons from across the UK and Ireland, as well as expensive materials quarried in northern Europe.

Too often in Belfast, as in many Ulster towns and in other areas of the UK, there has been too much haste to tear down historical buildings and replace them with modern equivalents. As a result, our urban centres are frequently made up of bland lumps of concrete.

The restoration of the Bank Buildings was a difficult and disruptive project that affected nearby businesses, and indeed it impacted the look and feel of the whole city centre for a time.

Now that the work is completed, though, we can all enjoy a striking façade that could easily have been replaced by something much less characterful.

The look of the building reminds us of the Victorian era, when Belfast was an industrial powerhouse at the peak of its fame. It is sad that so much architecture from that time has been lost and the city is poorer for its demise.

Well done to Primark for its investment in Belfast, as well as the architects and craftspeople who saved an important part of the city’s built heritage.