Queen's Arcade, Belfast
Queen's Arcade is a four-storey shopping arcade in the centre of Belfast, running from Donegall Place to Fountain Street. It was built in 1880 and designed by James McKinnon for developer George Fisher. The building is protected as a Grade B1 listed structure.
Over the years, Queen's Arcade has changed hands and undergone several changes. In 1919 it was bought by Frederick W. Henry, who ran the nearby Carlton Cafe & Restaurant. In the 1930s Hobart & Heron Architects made alterations for Austin Reed Ltd, and the AR monogram from that era can still be seen on the Donegall Place façade. After a fire, further work was carried out in 1937 by the same architectural firm.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Prudential Portfolio Managers owned the arcade. They refurbished the façades and added canopies at the entrances in 1987, with more refurbishment in 1994. The building was given Grade B1 listed status in June 1993. In August 2002, John H. Lunn (Jewellers) Ltd, trading as Lunn’s Jewellers, bought Queen’s Arcade and the adjacent building at 25-27 Donegall Place, a company that had started in the arcade about 50 years earlier.
In September 2024, Lunn’s announced plans to expand into the building that formerly housed the Carlton Cafe and most recently Oasis. The arcade remains a notable historic shopping venue in Belfast.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 06:57 (CET).