
Titanic Quarter in
Belfast
Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
, is a large-scale waterfront regeneration, comprising historic maritime landmarks, film studios, education facilities, apartments, a riverside entertainment district, and the world's largest Titanic-themed attraction centred on land in
Belfast Harbour, known until 1995 as Queen's Island, and initially, Dargan's Island. The site, previously occupied by part of the
Harland and Wolff shipyard, is named after the company's, and the city's, most famous product,
RMS ''Titanic''. Titanic Quarter is part of the Dublin-based group, Harcourt Developments, which has held the development rights since 2003.
Dargan Island / Queen's Island
Prior to the developments of the Titanic Quarter, the island was initially named ‘Dargan’s Island’ after engineer
William Dargan who was undertaking the work. In the 1840s, the land was created when a deep channel was cut through the mudflats of the river Lagan, the material excavated from the cut was used to form the artificial Dargan’s Island. It was later renamed to
Queen's Island when
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
visited Belfast in 1849. The island's first use was as a people's park, with a zoo, a Crystal Palace, gardens, and a bathing pond.
Industrial usage
In 1853 the Harbour Commissioners leased land on the island to shipbuilder Robert Hickson, who later employed a 23-year-old
Edward Harland as manager. In 1861 Edward Harland and
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
-born
Gustav Wolff established what was to become the world's most successful shipyard - Harland and Wolff. The Queen's Island shipyard continued to grow after taking charge of the Shipyard. By 1875, Harland and Wolff had grown to a large yard employing more than 1,000 workers. Wooden lighthouses were erected in the late 1800s to assist the mariners as they came in and out of the Belfast docks as Belfast's coal and steel industries continued to grow.
The Abercorn Basin and Hamilton Dock were established in 1876 for the growing shipbuilding industry. The Abercorn Basin (known as Belfast Marina) was used for the transportation of coal onto cargo boats, the presence of swan-necked cranes were common during the 20th century.
Harland & Wolff shipyard used Abercorn Basin to launch many of ships for
White Star Line.
Completed projects
The largest development is the £97 million
''Titanic'' Belfast visitor attraction which holds the record for the island's largest ever single concrete pour (4,300 cubic metres) for its foundations. The building opened on 31 March 2012 and attracted over 800,000 visitors in its first year. The attraction is owned by a charitable foundation. The architects said that "we have created an architectural icon that captures the spirit of the shipyards, ships, water crystals, ice, and the
White Star Line's logo. Its architectural form cuts a skyline silhouette that has been inspired by the very ships that were built on this hallowed ground."
In 2005 the
Catalyst Inc opened, a science park affiliated closely with
Queen's University Belfast
The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...
, the
University of Ulster and Titanic Studios (aka the
Paint Hall Studios, a film studio originally created by film producer
Jo Gilbert that was used in the production of films including
Tom Hanks's ''
City of Ember'' starring
Bill Murray
William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian, known for his deadpan delivery in roles ranging from studio comedies to independent dramas. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Bill Murra ...
, ''
Your Highness'' and
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
's television series ''
Game of Thrones
''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...
'').
The £30 million headquarters of the
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) is situated in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a division within the Engaged Communities Group of the Department for Communities (DfC).
The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland is dist ...
(PRONI) opened at 2 Titanic Boulevard in April 2011. PRONI is the national archive for Northern Ireland and holds records dating from 1219.
In September 2011, the largest education facility in Northern Ireland, the
Belfast Institute for Further and Higher Education (now
Belfast Metropolitan College), opened a £211 million campus in Titanic Quarter.
Belfast Harbour Marina opened in the centre of Titanic Quarter in 2009 as part of the
Belfast Tall Ships Festival. Located in the Abercorn Basin, it features 40 berths for leisure craft, it was funded by the
Northern Ireland Tourist Board and Belfast Tall Ships 2009 Ltd. It is the forerunner to a future 200 berth marina in the Titanic Quarter.
In November 2010 the first hotel, a
Premier Inn with onsite restaurant, opened in Titanic Quarter. Over 40 new jobs were created.
In 2013, the
SS Nomadic was restored, over 100 years after it was originally built. It sits in Hamilton Dock. It is the last remaining vessel of White Star Line. The iron caisson of the dry dock, built by Workman, Clark & Co. Ltd. in 1888 is awaiting restoration.
In September 2017 a second hotel,
Titanic Hotel Belfast, opened in the former Harland & Wolff Headquarters and Drawing Offices. The hotel includes artwork in the drawing offices from former Harland and Wolff worker, now current artist,
Colin H Davidson.
Belfast
Audi
Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. A subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide.
The origins of the compa ...
, operated by the Agnew Group, opened its new headquarters in November 2010. Located at 80 Sydenham Road, it created 115 new jobs.
The first residential development in Titanic Quarter was completed in December 2010.
The Arc comprises apartments and shops, and is located adjacent to Abercorn Basin.
Sport
In September 2014,
Northern Irish
The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...
boxer
Carl Frampton won the
IBF world super-bantamweight title in a specially constructed outdoor arena in the Titanic Quarter in front of 16,000 fans, Northern Ireland's largest ever boxing crowd.
Transport
The Titanic Quarter is served by Translink Metro Services 94, 600A and 600B bus services, which run from Donegall Square North (Across from City Hall) to
Holywood Exchange, Catalyst Inc, and Belfast City Airport, via The SSE Arena, Queens Road, Titanic Belfast and Belfast Harbour Estate East.
The area is also served by
NI Railways services to
Titanic Quarter (Bridge End) station, which is the first station heading towards
Bangor on the
Belfast–Bangor line from
Lanyon Place.
The G2 service, operated by the
Belfast Rapid Transit System (Glider) also terminates at Titanic Quarter.
See also
*
Belfast Quarters
*
*
*
Catalyst Inc
*
List of tourist attractions in Ireland
References
External links
Official site of the Titanic QuarterOfficial site of Harcourt Developments
{{RMS Titanic
Buildings and structures under construction in the United Kingdom
Quarters of Belfast
RMS Titanic
Redeveloped ports and waterfronts in the United Kingdom