List of tallest buildings and structures in Belfast facts for kids

85m (279 ft) Obel Tower in Belfast is Ireland's tallest building.

This list of the tallest buildings and structures in Belfast ranks buildings and structures in Belfast, Northern Ireland by height. There are at least 10 structures in the city taller than 80 metres (260 ft) and there are at least 33 habitable buildings in the city taller than 45 metres (148 ft).

Tallest by category

• The tallest building in Belfast is the Obel Tower at 85-metre (279 ft). It is the tallest building in Northern Ireland and the island of Ireland.
• The tallest structure in Belfast is the Black Mountain Tv mast at 228.6 metres (750 ft).
• The tallest free standing and occupied structure is the Harland and Wolf shipbuilding gantry crane Samson at 106 metres (348 ft).
• The tallest chimney is the Belfast City Hospital chimney at 95 metres (312ft).
• The tallest church is Belfast (St. Anne's) Cathedral at 80 metres (262ft).
• The tallest clock is the Albert Memorial Clock at 34.4m (113 feet).
• 

  Albert Memorial Clock

Belfast's tallest structures

These lists rank the 8 tallest structures in Belfast by total height.

Belfast Tallest Structures

Rank	Name	Use	Image	Height (m)	Height (ft)	Floors above ground	Year of completion	Notes
1	Black Mountain transmitting station	TV mast		228.6	750	N/A	1959
=2	Divis transmitting station	TV mast		166	545	N/A	2011
4	"Samson"	Shipbuilding Gantry Crane		106	348	N/A	1974
5	Belfast Ship repair Quay crane	Ship repair Crane		104	341	N/A	unknown
6	"Goliath"	Shipbuilding Gantry Crane		96	316	N/A	1969
7	Belfast City Hospital Chimney	Chimney		95	312	N/A	1986
8	Grand Central Hotel	Hotel		93 (Structure height (with 1 plant floor, top of elevator shaft and radio mast now included))	305 (Structure)	23	1975
9	Obel	Residential		85	279	28	2010
10	St Anne's Cathedral (Church of Ireland)	Church		80	262	N/A	2007

Belfast's tallest habitable buildings

This list is the tallest habitable buildings in Belfast by architectural height.

Belfast tallest Buildings
Rank	Name	Use	Image	Height (m)	Height (ft)	Floors (above ground)	Year of completion	Notes
1	Obel	Residential		85	279	28	2010
2	Grand Central Hotel	Hotel		80 (Architectural height)	262 (Building)	23	1975
3	Belfast City Hospital Tower	Hospital		76	249	15	1986
=4	Belfast International Hilton Hotel	Hotel		63	207	16	1998
=4	Royal Victoria Hospital Critical Care Building	Hospital		63	207	12	2012
=6	BT Riverside Tower	Office		62	203	14	1998
=6	The Boat	Office/Residential		62	203	15	2010
8	Divis Tower	Residential		61	200	20	1966
9=	Linum Square	Office		55	180	13	2005
9=	Causeway Tower	Office		55	180	13	2004
9=	Great Northern Tower	Office		55	180	13	1992
12	Grainne House	Residential		52	171	17	1968
13	Europa Hotel	Hotel		51	167	13	1971
14	Lanyon Plaza	Office		50	164	12	2014
15=	Bedford House	Office		49	161	12	1966
15=	River House	Office		49	161	14	1970 Building reclad in 2018.
15=	Ferndale House Parkdale House Riverdale House	Residential		49	161	15	1965
15=	Coolemoyne House Rathmoyne House	Residential		49	161	15	1962
22	Queen's University Medical Biology Centre (MBC)	University		48	158	12	1969
23	Swanston House 41-49 Queen street	Residential (student)		47	155	14	2016
24=	14 Great Victoria Street	Office		46	151	11	2003
24=	Fanum House	Office		46	151	13	1965
24=	Dundonald house	Office		46	151	12	early 1960s
24=	Ashby Building	University		46	151	11	1965
24=	101 York Street	Residential (student)		46	151	14	2021 (topped out)
29=	Kilbroney House	Residential		45	148	15	1967
29=	Carnet House	Residential		45	148	15	1966
29=	Bradbury court	Residential		45	148	15	Early 1960s
29=	FX, 14-18 Montgomery street	Residential		45	148	15	2019
29=	Elms BT2, McClintock Street	Residential (student)		45	148	16	2018

Tallest non-habitable buildings

List of tallest non Habitable buildings over 45m tall in Belfast. Non-Habitable building refers to a building where most of the height is taken up by an architectural feature which is not habitable such as a spire, or storage space.

Rank	Name	Use	Image	Height (m)	Height (ft)	Year of Construction	Notes
1	St Anne's Cathedral	Anglican Cathedral (Church of Ireland)		80	262	2007
2	St Patrick's Church, Belfast	Roman Catholic chapel		55	180	1877
3	West Twin Silos	Warehouse		54	177	1963
4	Belfast City Hall	Government Building		53	174	1906
5	Carlisle Memorial Church	Former Methodist Church now a venue		52	171	1875
6	St Peter's Cathedral, Belfast	Roman Catholic Cathedral		50	164	1866

Tallest demolished

Tallest buildings and structures in Belfast over 45m to have been demolished.

Name	Use	Image	Height (m)	Floors	Notes
Divis Transmitting station (old)	TV Masts		Mast A =140.7 and Mast B=139.5	N/A	Built in 1957 Replaced in 2011
Power station West 3 Chimneys	Power station Chimneys		80	N/A	Was opened in 1962, and closed in 2002 as move towards green energy began. Chimneys were demolished in 2007.
Churchill House	Office		66 (not including mast)	18	When built in 1966 it was Belfast's tallest building. Was occupied by Northern Ireland civil servants. Demolished in 2004. Now Victoria Square Shopping centre is where it once stood.
Greeves' (Cupar street) mill chimney	Chimney		66	N/A	When built it was the tallest chimney in Ireland and was until at least 1923. It had to be felled for safety reasons as it quickly deteriorated.
Belfast Wheel	Observation wheel		60	N/A	Was opened 2007 and closed 2010, due to blocking listed Belfast City hall and titanic memorial. Talks of moving it to the Titanic quarter led to nothing.

Potential tall buildings in belfast

Section covers buildings and structures under construction, had planning permission approved and have been proposed for Belfast. Exact heights stated in this section are taken directly from building plans found at and most recent approvals are announced online, where older ones are found in the previous reference.

Under construction

This lists buildings that are currently under construction.

Belfast's current tallest building the Obel Tower under construction with the tallest tower crane ever erected in the city at 106m tall.

Approved

This lists buildings that have been given planning permission to be constructed in Belfast.

Proposed

This lists buildings that have only been proposed to be built in Belfast.

History of Belfast's tallest building

Table of the history of the tallest building in Belfast by Architectural height

Name	Years tallest	Height (m)	Image
St. Peter's Cathedral (Roman Catholic)	1866-1875	50
Carlisle Memorial Church (Methodist)	1875-1877	52
St Patrick's Church (Roman Catholic)	1877-1966	55
Churchill House	1966-1975	66
Windsor House (Grand Central Hotel)	1st 1975-2007 Joint 1st 2007-2010	80
Belfast (St. Anne's) Cathedral (Church of Ireland)	Joint 1st 2007-2010	80
Obel Tower	2010-	85

Images for kids

• 

  Albert Memorial Clock

• 

  Tallest crane ever in Belfast for the refurb of Windsor house at 475 feet/145m