There can be few buildings in Northern Ireland that have changed as strikingly in recent years as the Crumlin Road Gaol’s A Wing.
The team behind this change was recognised at the Belfast Telegraph Property Awards ceremony, with Like Architects winning the Fit Out of the Year category for their work on Crumlin Road Gaol Distillery.
The Grade-A listed building, which was originally designed by Sir Charles Lanyon, has transformed from a location of incarceration into a distillery and visitor centre, while still retaining much of the original layout.
Like Architects said the project cost £22m, and is estimating that “over 100,000 visitors per year” will visit the newly-renovated site.
The firm says the fit out exemplifies their environmental approach, and desire to repurpose “vacant and otherwise redundant structures within our cities”. They see the site as being “steeped in Belfast’s architectural and social history”.
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The firm said: “The challenge of preserving the integrity of this derelict yet iconic structure, while sensitively repurposing it for modern use, was significant. Each decision was considered to ensure the legibility of new and old whilst coalescing harmoniously.”
Ciaran Deazley, director at Like Architects, said: “Obviously we’re delighted to win the award. We won a UK award about three weeks ago.
“It’s nice to win in the UK, but also nice to be appreciated in your own part of the world.”
Simon Scales, senior architectural technologist, said a successful fit-out was about “a good team around yourselves, a good vision and a strong idea to start off with, which is carried through right to the end.
“It’s definitely a team effort and needs buy-in from everybody, including the client.”
Mr Deazley added: “This project was from 2011, so it’s 13 years in the making. We demolished about 60% of a listed building, which is a challenge in itself. But I think it’s gone very, very well.”