Lanyon Building

The Lanyon Building shows a long, symmetrical facade of red brick and sandstone, topped by a tall, centralized clock tower that dominates the skyline of the university quarter. Architect Charles Lanyon designed this structure in the eighteen forties to house the new Queen's College. When the building opened in eighteen forty-nine, the first students arrived to find the interior rooms still smelling of fresh plaster and paint. A local stonemason reportedly carved his own face into one of the decorative stone corbels.