Queen's University Belfast

Queen's University Belfast Review

Dominating University Road is Queen's University. The main buildings, modeled on Oxford's Magdalen College and designed by the ubiquitous Charles Lanyon, were built in 1849 in the Tudor Revival style. The long, handsome redbrick-and-sandstone facade of the main building features large lead-glass windows, and is topped with three square towers and crenellations galore. University Square, really a terrace, is from the same era. The Seamus Heaney Library is named after the Ulster-born 1997 Nobel Prize-winning poet. In 2009 the McClay Library in College Park opened at a cost of bp]50 million. Designed by Boston-based architects Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson & Abbot (SBRA)—who also worked on libraries at Yale, Cornell, and Harvard—the library features a multistory open atrium, 1.5 million volumes, and the Brian Friel Theatre, named in honor of one of Ireland's most illustrious playwrights. The C. S. Lewis reading room on the first floor has a replica of the wardrobe door used in the film, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The Queen's Welcome Centre hosts a regular program of exhibitions and serves as an information point for visitors and tourists, as well as offering a varied selection of souvenirs and gifts. The Welcome Center was renovated in 2011; free guided tours for visitors are held at Monday-Friday at 2 pm.