Belfast Stories Interpretive Planner & Exhibition Design Team

Project Definition: Belfast Stories is a City Deal Project. Tourism-led regeneration is one of the four main pillars of the Belfast Region City Deal announced in the Autumn Budget 2018. The other pillars are Innovation, Infrastructure and Employability & Skills. The deal has a commitment from the NI Executive, local government, and the private sector to create a co-investment package of around £1 billion. Belfast Stories is a unique visitor destination of unprecedented scale and ambition in the heart of the city centre that will serve as a catalyst for economic, social, and cultural regeneration of the city and wider region. By 2028, following an unparalleled programme of story collection across the city and beyond, exciting new visitor destination currently named Belfast Stories will open. It will reflect the unique spirit of Belfast with through first-person accounts brought to life through a variety of media and a mix of immersive experiences. It will drive culture-led regeneration across the city, enabling international and local visitors to connect with Belfast and one another through stories, screen, and social spaces. Located on the historic site where North Street meets Royal Avenue, this £100m landmark development will create a major tourism anchor right in the city centre – an authentic experience with Belfast’s people and personality at its heart. Belfast Stories has 3 key components: • Belfast Stories – Visitor experience • Belfast Screen Centre – State of the art, multi screened cultural cinema and centre for NI screen industries including skills development space.
• Social Spaces – To eat, drink, shop, meet, network and relax. Project Location: The site acquired for Belfast Stories is a 5,000 sq.m key city centre site on the corner of Royal Avenue and North Street on the main retail thoroughfare and a suitable location for maximising the regeneration potential for the city centre. The site includes the former Bank of Ireland (occupying approx. 6% of the site), built in 1928. Clad in Portland Limestone with tower and clock featuring decorative metal window panels it is a Grade B+ listed building. Completion: The construction works are indicatively indicated to be completed by Quarter 2, 2028.