Opening Look at Future Belfast Tallest

The combination of the peace dividend and the economic spill over from the celtic tiger that is the Republic of Ireland are driving Belfast up the league table of rapidly growing British cities.One of the leading projects in the Northern Irish capital is the Bedford Square scheme. Located in the heart of the City phase one has recently been completed which leads the developers, McAleer & Rushe, to look at constructing phase 2. Phase 1 is a 13 floor office block with about 12,000 square metres of space. Marking the popularity of the scheme it already has already got an anchor tenant, Invest Northern Ireland who have left less than 30,000 square metres unoccupied.The second phase is twice the height of the first at 26 floors containing 21,000 square metres of space. For a Grade A spec office building it should be the tallest in the city when completed coming in at over 100 metres in height and trumping the under construction Obel Tower. The planned tower that will make the second phase of Bedford Square has been designed to have coherence and difference at the same time with the first. Although utilising similar glass cladding and identical floor to ceiling heights to create a uniformity it will be white render rather than orange. The two buildings are designed to flank two sides of the 1.2 acre site stepping up gradually from the glass entrance of phase 1 in four sections as it rises to the highest point in phase two, positioned to act as a partner for the infamously unpopular Windsor House, helping to blunt its effect on the skyline. The use of a complex that corners around a site and has a public square in it is a particularly popular option with McAleer & Rushe and one they have done many times before with mixed results in finishing quality at schemes such as the likes of Waterfront Plaza in Nottingham.Both buildings will look over a new public square and also contain the restored Ewarts Warehouse which is being totally refurbished with a mixture of retail, leisure and offices.The developers hope that their scheme will form part of the heart of the rapidly growing commercial district and as an early mover into a market with similar potential as Dublin ten years ago, they'll have a success on their hands in their hometown.