Great Victoria Street tower block to be demolished for student housing

A tower block which has been called one of Belfast’s ugliest buildings is to be demolished as part of a student housing scheme.

Fanum House on Great Victoria Street is a 1960s former office building clad with grey concrete panels.

There have been plans to demolish it for more than a decade with plans for a hotel or apartments.

The owners have now been granted planning permission for a student scheme of 560 rooms across four blocks.

Fanum House was formerly the Belfast headquarters for newspapers and media including the Irish Times, RTÉ and Sky, with its rooftop the setting for many TV reports during the Troubles.

The project will involve demolishing a neighbouring office block, Norwood House.

Belfast City Council’s planning committee has also approved a new hotel and the expansion of a Queen’s University Belfast research institute.

The hotel project will involve redeveloping a listed former police station on Queen Street in the city centre.

It will include the preservation of the building’s listed frontage and a nine-storey extension at the back.

Councillors also granted permission for an extension to the Queen’s University Institute of Electronics, Communications & Information Technology (ECIT) in the Titanic Quarter.

The project is part of the Belfast City Deal, one of a number of funding packages negotiated between the Westminster government and local authorities.

Councillor Arder Carson, chair of the planning committee, said: “These approvals reflect our commitment to supporting projects that enhance Belfast’s heritage, community, and economic vitality.”