Lindsay House

Belfast independent operator Ringland Group has won planning approval for a £10 million conversion of the vacant former BDO office building on Callendar Street into a 76-room, 1950s-themed boutique hotel. Due to open late 2026, Lindsay House will add a ground-floor bar and restaurant to a city-centre block that already sits beside the Marks & Spencer flagship store.

The place

Lindsay House sits on Callendar Street in the heart of Belfast city centre, immediately beside the flagship Marks & Spencer store and a short walk from Donegall Place and Belfast City Hall. The building's ground floor currently houses a Subway outlet, the Sew 'n' Sew haberdashery — closing after 41 years of trade — and the Italian restaurant Nova, all due to make way for the conversion.

The concept

The building started life in the 1950s as an office block and was most recently the Belfast headquarters of accountancy firm BDO before falling vacant. Ringland Group, the independent Belfast operator run by brothers Peter and Ben Ringland, bought the 36,000 sq ft property for just over £2 million and plans to spend a further £10 million converting it into a 76-room hotel. Rather than erase the building's age, the plan leans into it: the exterior — which Peter Ringland has called 'the ugly façade' — will be redone, while the interiors are designed around a 1950s, mid-century theme. Belfast City Council's Planning Committee approved the scheme in June 2026, alongside a separate, unrelated 30-room hotel conversion on nearby Rosemary Street. The project is part of a wider roughly £17 million city-centre push by Ringland Group, which also runs The Flint Hotel and Amelia Hall in Belfast, funded in part by the planned sale of the group's existing property, The 1852 Hotel. Some early coverage refers to the development as the 'Bottleworks Hotel', though Lindsay House — the building's existing name — is how the project has been publicly announced.

Dining & wellness

Plans include a ground-floor bar and restaurant, in keeping with the format of Ringland Group's other Belfast properties. No operator, chef, or menu concept has been announced yet; these details are expected closer to opening.