Original building - 1890 - 1891
Original building - £18,000
Original contractor in 1891 - McLaughlin & Harvey


In selecting the developer for the B1 listed Klondyke building and adjacent site the Development Committee of Belfast City Council who are responsible for the Gasworks site sent out an open invitation for interested developers to submit their proposals. This occurred after a previously selected developer (PHAB) withdrew their interest as preferred developer of the site. All developers had submitted their proposals by June 1999 and these were considered by a Working Group before the shortlisted developers presented their ideas to the Council’s Development Committee in October 1999.

Comtech Developments Ltd were selected ahead of Kennedy Group and Klondyke Community Group for their plans to develop the building into a 34,000sq ft call centre as it would provide the greatest number of potential jobs. The plan at the time also involved the extension of the building to provide a training centre known as the “The Bridge Learning Centre” although the Council decided that the developer was not bound to provide this element of the development of the Klondyke Building.

The alternative proposal by Kennedy Group involved the conversion of the building for the Christian Fellowship Church to provide church services, conference facilities, a restaurant, an exhibition centre and a drama venue. The other alternative proposal was by Klondyke Community Group and it proposed a self-financing, community resource in the Klondyke Building. The scheme would have included 32,000sq ft of office space, which would provide rental income to fund the centre.

Planning permission was applied for in early summer 2000 for the selected scheme by Comtech Developments. In November 2000 the Council’s Development Committee reviewed two options drawn up by the architect for the building. The proposals related to the gable wall adjacent to the Ormeau Road, in which the first design called for the replacement of the entire gable wall with one glass panel, while the alternative proposed replacing two of the four indented brick panels of the gable wall with glass panels. The Committee and Laganside Corporation both considered that replacing just two of the brick panels with glass was more appropriate. Planning permission was granted the following summer in 2001.

The development was designed by Todd Architects and constructed by Gilbert Ash who completed the scheme in late 2006.

The following year the building was purchased by Farrelly & Mitchell on behalf of Elm Private 111 for £11.7m. 

Current Owner: Elm Private 111
Subcontractor: Stothers M&E
Curtain Walling & Roof Glazing: Hynds Architectural Systems
1891 Contractor: McLaughlin & Harvey