Ferguson & McIlveen Architects, Belfast

Ferguson & McIlveen was a Belfast architectural and engineering partnership formed in 1922 or 1923 by Robert Ferguson and Samuel McIlveen. The Dictionary of Irish Architects describes the practice as initially concentrating heavily on private housing in Belfast, particularly houses developed by J. J. Bell. Following the Second World War, their work increasingly moved towards public housing, before expanding further into waterworks and sewerage schemes across Northern Ireland. The firm had several Belfast offices over the decades, including premises in Wellington Place, the Scottish Provident Buildings, University Square, College Gardens and later Beechill House.

Robert Ferguson was born in Belfast in 1887 and trained as a civil engineer, gaining degrees from Queen's College Belfast before working with the Congested Districts Board and the Department of Agriculture. He established his own practice in 1919 and subsequently formed a partnership with McIlveen. Ferguson later became an important figure in the engineering profession in Northern Ireland, serving on professional and government committees and receiving an OBE in 1970 for his services to engineering and the community. He retired from practice in 1965 but continued as a consultant until he died in 1981.

Samuel McIlveen, born in 1888 or 1889 in County Down, had trained as an architect before working in valuation, engineering and shipbuilding-related practice in Belfast. He became Ferguson's partner in the early 1920s and remained with the firm until he died in 1958. He was a member of the RIAI, RIBA and RSUA and served on the council of the Royal Society of Ulster Architects, becoming vice-president in 1956.

The scale of the firm's work is considerable. The Dictionary of Irish Architects lists 289 works under Ferguson & McIlveen, covering houses, schools, churches, hospitals, public buildings, housing schemes and major engineering projects. Their 1930s work included a number of public elementary schools, including schools at Dunmurry, Finaghy, Crossan, Whitehouse, Fintona and Omagh. The firm's entry specifically records Newtownbreda Public Elementary School on School Road in Belfast in 1938, with C. & W. McQuaid as builder.