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Custom House Square, Belfast.

Water Feature

The feature was conceived by The Paul Hogarth Company from their office in Belfast, on behalf of the Laganside Corporation.  The road system around the Custom House had come to dominate the area. Traffic was diverted away and the new pedestrian area has made a gathering place for functions, informal gatherings and entertainment reminiscent of previous times.

The River Farset used to flow through the area and was culverted beneath the streets many years ago. The water feature site on the line of the river, and provides a memory of the Farset in this modern environment giving action, light and a sense of fun.

Ocmis worked with The Paul Hogarth Company to provide a detailed scheme that could be constructed in this technically difficult situation. A below ground plant room was necessary and was constructed at the foot of the leaning Albert Clock. A cast in-situ below ground tank was installed adjacent to the new below ground plant room to provide buffer storage capacity for the system by F P McCann Ltd, the main contractor.

The 84 water jets are all individually controlled and are arranged in two blocks. The jets are controlled by Crystal water switches which can make the water leap up to 10 times per second. This enables dynamic displays which are infinitely variable; the mood of the fountain can change from gentle display to frenzied action in an instant. The nozzles are mounted in a channel with the paving slabs continuing over it to give an uninterrupted surface.  All the fountain mechanics are thus hidden but easily accessible to the operators when necessary.

The arrangement of the nozzles in rows of three helps to maximise the effect and range of programming options, with travelling and chasing waves, contra running waves, pop corn effects and uniform jumping jets all available. The programming of the system is done using software developed by Ocmis.

Operators can access the system through a digital display on the front of the main control panel, or remotely through a second digital screen connected to the plant room with fibre optic communication cable. Ocmis are also able to access the software remotely from their head office to provide support and fault finding facilities as part of the ongoing maintenance contract. The 4 metre high jets are linked to an anemometer to ensure they are lowered if the wind is likely to cause the water to drift. The lighting is controlled by a photoelectric cell to ensure they are only used at low light levels.

Water quality is crucial for such an animated water feature, and the water is constantly filtered, treated and monitored with an automatic system in the plant room to ensure it is clean and safe.

The Calder Fountain at the other end of Queen's Square was Belfast's oldest drinking fountain for horses. This has also been refurbished as part of the improvement works.

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