Christ Church, Belfast - Northern Ireland

The conversion of Christ Church, Belfast into a new centre of excellence combining educational and public space under one roof was awarded with a Civic Trust Award. Christ Church had been a building at risk for many years. It was a burnt out shell and the brief was to restore it to full use while retaining its historical character. The walls were bowing outwards to such an extent that at least two firms of structural engineers had recommended demolition. McConnells accepted the challenge and carefully repaired and restored the badly decayed exterior stonework to its former glory and rebuilt the cantilevered stone staircase.