McConnell's Distillery, Belfast

The existing Crumlin Rd Gaol was designed in 1840 by Charles Lanyon, and was based on the Pentonville Prison, London layout – consisting of four wings containing a number of storeys of individual cells opening on to continuous galleries. The proposed development is contained in ‘A’ wing, over the full number of storeys of the existing building. The existing structure consists predominantly of masonry vertical cell walls (a mixture of stone and brick) supporting a series of arched floors – each floor is formed of a brick arch supporting a ‘clinker’ concrete infill with a slate balcony supported on cantilever cast iron brackets. The project involves careful removal of the ground floor load-bearing walls to create open plan spaces for distillery, visitors centre and cafe/restaurant.