Architect’s Account of the new Seamus Heaney Centre

Posted 1 week ago

1 October 2024

This article is featured in the September 2024 edition of Perspective magazine, to purchase a copy cl ick here

The Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen’s opened in 2003 and as the university states, ‘has been home to some of the UK and Ireland’s foremost poets, novelists, scriptwriters and critics’ since then. Delivering MA and PhD programmes in poetry and all manner of creative writing, it has been a huge success over the past 20 years.

Not so successful, however, was its physical place setting in the city or even the University Quarter. In fact, truth be told, it was somewhat easier to miss than to locate, and even when found and the door threshold crossed, one couldn’t be sure if one had actually arrived at the centre of anything. This status required change — a necessary action subsequently pursued by Glenn Patterson, writer and director of the Seamus Heaney Centre with centre coordinator Rachel Brown and, we assume, the rest of their clan of poets, writers, scholars and fellows.

Skipping some logistical detail, a budget and new location were agreed within Queen’s Estates: 38-40 University Road and 3 Mount Charles were to receive a deep refurbishment with alterations to satisfy the needs of the [new] Seamus Heaney Centre.

38-40 University Road and the former 1 Mount Charles were constructed in 1854, originally as three townhouses. Following extensive fire bomb damage in the 1970s, the buildings were all but razed and significantly altered thereafter to integrate the three townhouses into one building, but still evaluated as being grade B2 listed.

3 Mount Charles, constructed 1859, was also formerly a townhouse and evaluated as being grade B1 listed.

The two buildings are connected internally on ground, first and second floor. The brief delivers 19 academic office work spaces, two scriptoriums, a number of variously sized workshop teaching spaces, a poetry library, a large venue space and a permanent exhibition space – oh, and a Small Back Room (Wayne Millers essay subtitled ‘On Ciaran Carson and the Importance of Low–Stakes Conversations in the ‘Small
Back Room” explains).

We were pleased to have early direct discussions and engagement with the Historic Environment Department which developed into an ongoing conversation throughout the build, leading to an agreed and successful strategy.

No.3 was the only portion of the block ensemble that had retained any of the original spatial arrangement or fabric — internal timber shutters, the sliding sash windows and the staircase. All cornicing and joinery detail of the period had been stripped out. 38—40 was devoid of any historic significance beyond the external façade, roofscape and setting. On this basis No.3 was restored back to original detailing with moulds taken from adjacent untouched terraces while 38-40 University Road utilised simple modern detailing throughout.

Daylight and transparency were end-user aspirations and so the deep portions of the plan are punched with framed screens, allowing views from the University Street side right through all the programmed spaces to the tree canopy in Mount Charles on the other side. The windows in 38—40 were actually 1970s replicas of 2/2 and 6/6 sashes and on that basis we were able to make a case for refurbishment with slim line doubled glazed units which, along with the draft proofing, has massively increased the thermal efficiency of the building. An insulation upgrade to all roofs also helps to reduce energy demand.

Given some of the room occupancy numbers and the location, we were not able to ventilate all spaces naturally but we didn’t want to break the roof or interrupt the façade with services so we reintroduced all the lost historic chimneys in real brick slip/render but with hollow fibre glass cores through which all our ventilation supply and extract flows [much to our mechanical engineers’ exasperation].

The new stair installation has been treated such that the writers moving from street level up to the scriptorium or office will experience an acoustic threshold — the timber lining spaced with dense absorption layers behind to deaden the space and trap noise.

What little historic value was left in 38—40 i.e. the fenestration, now informs new quiet patterns, internal and external, manifesting in the ceiling geometry and granite paving.

The view from the scriptoriums resonates emotionally with the Seamus Heaney Centre — looking towards the previous home of Ciaran Carson at No.33, and subject of The House with the Palm Trees by Jim Allen — a piece which in tandem with Carson’s poetry came to influence both colour choices on the internal palette and indeed a little trellised joinery.

On the whole, the task was to create a place conducive to ‘the study and creation of writing’ and to a standard worthy of carrying the name of ‘one of Ireland’s greatest poets’. After all, it’s not really about the building, The Seamus Heaney Centre is sustained by those writers and poets that take shelter in it. How would we make sense of much of life without their thoughts, questions and reflections captured in words for our consumption? And who will write tomorrow if not encouraged to dig today.

MW Architects

This article is featured in the September 2024 edition of Perspective magazine, to purchase a copy cl ick here