1896 – Belfast City Hall Competition Controversy

During the competition to provide a design for the new Belfast City Hall, it seems that the City Council attempted to insert themselves into the competitive process.

The announcement for the prestigious commission:

“An important competition will be that for the new City Hall, at Belfast, upon which building it is proposed to about 150,000. The Corporation invite architects to in sketch designs, from which three will be selected, authors of which will be asked to take part in a final competition. Mr. Alfred Waterhouse RA and Mr. J.C. Bretland M Inst CE., city surveyor will act as assessors, and 300 will be equally divided amongst the architects taking part in the final competition. October 25th next is the date for sending in the sketch designs, and the conditions are obtainable from the City Surveyor on payment of one guinea.”
The British Architect, July 17 1896

And then, the attempt to ensure there’s a local winner.

“THE settlement of the Belfast City Hall competition seems likely to be blocked by one of those disagreeable hitches which give rise to the worst trouble befalling a competition, viz., the suspicion of jobbery. Fifty one designs were, we believe, sent in and were submitted to Mr Alfred Waterhouse R.A., and Mr Bretland, the city surveyor, The assessors eventually selected three designs, and it is alleged that these designs were from Scotland and England, and that the names of their authors being known, two other designs, including one by a local man, were brought forward for the purpose of placing the work in the hands of a Belfast architect. There was a long and stormy meeting of the City Council on Tuesday, when the subject was discussed though in a somewhat random way; but finally the subject was referred back to the committee. A number of the members of the Council were evidently possessed with the idea that the Council ought to consider the whole 51 designs, and not the three selected ones merely. Therefore these members discovered no harm in adding an extra two or three designs to those selected by their assessors, especially providing they could hit upon one sent in by a local man. We understand that Mr Waterhouse has written to the Council remonstrating against the inclusion of other designs with those selected by himself and Mr Bretland. We shall await with some curiosity the result of this competition.”
The British Architect, December 4 1896

And the fix is on, but the local architect, Graeme Watt & Tulloch, honourably withdraws.

“It was an important work, and would cost about £150,000. The Corporation of Belfast applied to the Royal Institute of British Architects to frame conditions and name an assessor. They began by omitting to thank the Institute, and it was evident later on that matters had been interpolated into the conditions, things which, the president believed, were perfectly foreign to competition, and quite inoperative. Mr. Waterhouse, with Mr. Bretland, finally selected three designs from those sent in, and proposed then and there, as the president had gathered, that the envelopes should be opened and the successful men declared. That was quite a proper thing. Mr. Waterhouse then went back to London as fast as he could. Strange to say, no announcement appeared of this, though the proceedings were known in Dublin, London, and Edinburgh, within twenty-four hours. The committee in charge of the matter were not quite satisfied, and they wanted to bring in two other designs ; and this committee proceeded illegally and improperly to vote for three plans out of five for final competition, and eighteen members plumped for the Belfast man, and the now celebrated Plan No. 22 was selected. The proceedings next came to the Belfast Corporation for confirmation, and the result of the matter reflected, he thought, great credit on the City of Belfast. The majority of the Corporation had got hold of the right end of the stick, and fell foul of the committee. Plain talk was used in that part of the country, and the mildest words used were “jobbers and tricksters,” and such like. The whole proceedings were carefully discussed, and a strong feeling had arisen about it in Belfast. Some of them were inclined to express sympathy with the Belfast architects who had been put into this position.

They lost no time in writing to the Corporation withdrawing their plans, and declaring they would not be put in a position of the kind. This made the row very much worse. He thought these gentlemen had acted very properly, and he was glad to say that there was perfect unanimity in regard to this subject amongst their professional brethren in Belfast. Well, the decision of Mr. Waterhouse now stood, and he understood the gentlemen who had drawn the selected plans had been communicated with in order that they might go in for the final competition. That showed what public opinion could do.
The Irish Builder, January 1 1897.

It doesn’t seem like Graeme Watt & Tulloch knew they were inserted into the final selection process despite not being selected by Waterhouse & Bretland.

Mr. W. M. Mitchell said they should thank Mr. Watt, of Belfast, for the action he had taken in connection with the withdrawal of his plans for the Town Hall of Belfast, and he proposed –
That the members of the Royal Institute of Architects desire to convey to Messrs. Graeme Watt and Tulloch, their congratulations on the honourable and professional course taken by them in the late Belfast Town Hall competition.
Mr. Murray seconded the resolution.
The Irish Builder, January 1 1897.

It even made the American Architect in 1897:

“A VERY creditable occurrence is reported in the English papers. Some little time ago a competition was invited for a city hall at Belfast, Ireland, and Mr. Alfred Waterhouse and Mr. Bretland were appointed a jury, to select three designs, the authors of which should be invited to a second and final competition. The selection was duly made and reported to the Committee of the City Council in charge of the matter, but the Committee discovering that none of the local architects were included among the honored three, coolly added two local names to Messrs Waterhouse and Bretland’s list, and then proceeded to make a selection of three out of the five candidates thus presented. As a result of this selection, one of the Belfast architects appeared in the number of those admitted to the final competition. The matter had to come up before the Corporation, and the proceedings of the Committee were made public, with comments of a decidedly unfavorable character. Notwithstanding this, it is by no means certain that the Corporation would not have voted to sustain its Committee, had not the Belfast architects, with a sense of honor which cannot be too highly commended, at once and absolutely withdrawn their plans. It is so fashionable now, particularly in England, to impute to architects dishonest practices with regard to their clients money that we would like to draw the attention of small newspaper scribblers to this act of the Belfast architects, and ask them if there is any other profession, the members of which would show such honorable feeling, and, also, whether it is probable that men so scrupulous about accepting an unfair ad vantage over their business rivals habitually fill their pockets with money stolen from those who trust them.
American Architect, February 20 1897