ABE members visited the Titanic Signature Building on the site of the construction of probably the most famous ship in the world, the Titanic, which was built in Belfast and launched in 1911. At that time Belfast had one of the largest shipyards in the world, employing some 50,000 workers at a site stretching to over 75 hectares. The site of the shipyard was at Queen’s Island, a flat area at the mouth of the River Lagan, at the end of Belfast Lough, which in its heyday had multiple gantry cranes and towering workshops and was filled with the sound of metal being beaten, riveted and welded. From the Sixties work in the shipyards declined until, in 2003, the last ship was launched and the massive buildings and cranes stood silent. So it remained.
In 1989 the Laganside Corporation was set up with a brief to regenerate the inner-city land along the riverside. The first milestone of the regeneration was the Waterfront Hall Conference and Venue Centre. This acted as a catalyst for other developments such as the BT Tower, Hilton Hotel and the Odyssey Arena and Conference Centre. The centrepiece of the Waterfront development is the area of the Queen’s Island which was to become known as the Titanic Quarter.
Following months of negotiations, First Minister, Peter Robinson, announced that the Northern Ireland Government had approved £43.5m towards the £97m Titanic Signature Building development. Other parties brought together to allow the Signature Building to be created included Belfast City Council, Belfast Harbour Commissioners, Northern Ireland Tourist Board and Harcourt Developments.
Lead Consultants, Todd Architects, began design of the project a number of years ago and work was started, in advance of the tying together of all of the details by Harcourt Construction, in a demonstration of their faith in the project and determination to ensure that the project would be completed and opened in time to celebrate the centenary of the Titanic’s maiden voyage in April 2012. The ten-storey high building will be used solely for exhibition purposes with the top floor being devoted to a restaurant with diners having the ability to look down on the slipway where the Titanic was launched. The building will provide 12,000m2 of floor space on five levels with exhibitions devoted to the industry of Belfast, the life of the shipyard, the building and launch of the Titanic, life on board in first class and steerage and finally the demise of the great ship and the more recent searches which have located her.
The design of the building conjures up the vision of the prow of the ship towering over the adjacent Harland & Wolf Design Offices just as it would have done in 1911. The Signature Building is clad in 3,000 anodised aluminium plates, no more than four of each pattern are identical, arranged into a complex asymmetrical design, fracturing the reflected light into a series of abstracted waves and breakers. This striking visage can be seen by ships approaching from Belfast Lough at the top of the slipways on which Titanic and Olympic were built. It is envisaged that cruise ships will be able to dock in Belfast and passengers then embark to visit the Public Records Offices adjacent to the site, the Harland & Woolf Design Offices, which are due to be refurbished, and the Titanic Signature Exhibition Forum.
Future developments on the site include the Belfast Metropolitan College, a 140-bedroom hotel, an Innovation Centre as part of the Northern Ireland Science Park, the Gateway office building and 475 apartments to bring urban village life to the riverside development. It is predicted that the attraction will bring 40,000 visitors each year to Belfast and create 600 jobs in its construction as well as creating a catalyst for the future development of Titanic Quarter.
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