Queens University, Belfast

Queens University, Belfast

ESF were delighted to work alongside Felix O’Hare on the East West Link job at Queens University, Belfast. We supplied a number of stainless steel curved benches, planters and litterbins for this prestigious scheme.  ESF look forward to completing projects with Queens Estates Department at Queens Elms student accommodation and Riddell Hall.

History of Queen's

Queen's University Belfast has a record of academic achievement which stretches back more than 150 years.

Founded by Queen Victoria, the Queen's University in Ireland, was designed to be a non-denominational alternative to Trinity College Dublin which was controlled by the Anglican Church.

The University was made up of three Queen's Colleges - in Cork, Galway and Belfast. Although it was the first University in the north of Ireland, Queen's drew on a tradition of learning which goes back to 1810 and the foundation of the Belfast Academical Institution.

Its collegiate department, which provided University-style education, closed with the establishment of Queen's and four of its professors and many of its students transferred to the new college.

Founded in 1845, Queen's opened in 1849 when the first students entered the magnificent new college building designed and built by Charles Lanyon. Since then, the University estate has grown to more than 300 buildings - many of them listed for their architectural importance. The first batch of students numbered 90. Today there are some 24,000.

(Queen's during the 1880s)

The most significant date in the early years of the University's life was 1908 when the three Queen's Colleges, and the Royal University (which replaced the Queen's University in Ireland in 1879), were dissolved and replaced by the Queen's University of Belfast and the National University of Ireland.

As an independent institution, governed by its own Senate, Queen's flourished. Increasing student numbers and new staff were accommodated in a number of new buildings and the academic programme increased in range. Arts, Science, Law and Medicine were supplemented by Faculties of Commerce, Applied Science and Technology, Agriculture, and Theology.

Throughout the 20th century, Queen's continued to expand and develop. It has become one of the most respected universities in the British Isles, and its research tradition has gained it an international reputation.