The mid-1970s could hardly be described as an auspicious time to launch an architectural practice in Belfast, but Barrie Todd could never be accused during his long career of a lack of vision or drive.
Starting out from modest premises on Botanic Avenue, he tenaciously pursued a developer to secure his first major commission, an office block on the site of the Mayfair Cinema and Kensington Hotel on College Square East.
He would also knock on doors across London in an attempt to build his portfolio, establishing an office in the capital and a reputation that would carry weight back home.
On returning to Belfast, he made the courageous decision to base himself in the heart of the city, buying a run-down warehouse in a derelict area near St Anne’s Cathedral.
Having drawn up plans for an architect’s studio and restaurant, which would be become NIck’s Warehouse, he went on to become a key figure in the development of the commercial and design success story that is the Cathedral Quarter.
Barrie’s practice would also grow to around 100 employees on both sides of the Irish Sea and among its best known designs are the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, with its central ‘street’ feature to help make young visitors feel more relaxed, and ‘The Boat’ at Custom House Square, whose four storeys of apartments above 12 floors of office space offer spectacular views across the Lagan.
Both ground-breaking buildings were recipients of major awards.
Born in 1944 in Carrickfergus, Barrie was the son of an artist and was initially tempted to follow in his footsteps before his father persuaded him to pursue a more practical career path.
A pupil at Belfast High School, he also loved music and a song he wrote, It Would Take a Miracle, was performed by Twink in the national contest to decide Ireland’s Eurovision entry in 1972. It lost out to the country’s only ever entry sung in Irish.
Barrie would maintain a passion for the arts throughout his life and was central in the creation of the Metropolitan Arts Centre (MAC) near his offices.
He met his wife Trish, an interior designer, in Belfast’s Botanic Inn and they set up home in Annadale Avenue before designing an elegant family house in Hillsborough. They were a devoted couple and blessed with three children – Chris, Iain and Jill, a talented photographer who tragically died of cancer at the age of 23.
With characteristic determination, the couple would channel their grief into positive action by establishing the Jill Todd Trust to fund cancer research and support aspiring photographers.
Among its innovative projects is the Ask An Architect initiative, which sees professionals offer their expertise in exchange for a donation to the Friends of the Cancer Centre.
The scheme is supported by the Royal Society of Ulster Architects, which Barrie served as president from 2000-22.
He was also a professor at Queen’s University Belfast, was appointed the inaugural chair of the Ministerial Advisory Group for Architecture and the Built Environment in 2007, and received an MBE for his services to architecture a year later.
Having established a lasting legacy both on the physical infrastructure of Belfast, and the many lives he touched in the city and far beyond, Barrie Todd died aged 80 on June 14.
His funeral was at Hillsborough Parish Church, where his coffin was brought in to the strains of Joe Cocker’s Girl from the North Country.
He is survived and sadly missed by his wife, sons, daughters-in-law and three grandchildren.