Belfast by Arek Jaworski

Tag: northern ireland

  • Ulster Museum

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    Tucked into the leafy calm of Botanic Gardens, the Ulster Museum is where Belfast goes when it wants to tell a story – about dinosaurs and dragons, shipwrecks and civil rights, fashion and fossils, paintings and politics. It’s the largest museum in Northern Ireland, with around 8,000 m² of galleries filled with art, history and natural science.

    Step outside and you’re in one of the nicest corners of the city:

    • Queen’s University Belfast (Lanyon Building) just across the road, all red brick and turrets.
    • Methodist College a few steps away, its students streaming past at lunchtime.
    • Botanic Gardens literally wrapped around the museum, so you can go from dinosaur skeletons straight to palm houses and rose beds.

    It’s hard to beat that combo.

    A Museum 200 Years in the Making

    The story starts in 1821 with the Belfast Natural History Society, whose small collection grew into the Belfast Municipal Museum and Art Gallery. The institution moved into Botanic Gardens in 1929, into a classical building designed by James Cumming Wynne.

    In 1962 it officially became the Ulster Museum, and a dramatic Brutalist concrete extension followed in the early 1970s – those big grey cubes that jut out over the trees, loved by architecture fans and side-eyed by everyone else.

    The whole place closed in 2006 for a major £17m refurbishment and reopened in October 2009 with a bright central atrium, new galleries, and better access throughout. Since then it has regularly ranked among Northern Ireland’s busiest visitor attractions and has picked up multiple awards, including the UK Art Fund Prize.

    How the Museum is Laid Out

    The Ulster Museum is essentially three museums under one roof:

    1. History
    2. Biology / Natural Sciences
    3. Art & Design

    You move between them via that big “hall of wonder” atrium – glass lifts, bridges, and odd things hanging overhead. It feels more like exploring a ship than walking through a building.

    Here’s what to expect in each section:

    History: From Spanish Armada to the Troubles

    The history galleries walk you from prehistoric Ireland right through to very recent events. Highlights often include:

    • Treasures from the Spanish Armada – including gold and artefacts recovered from wrecks off the Irish coast.
    • Early Ireland – stone tools, Bronze Age jewellery, medieval carvings.
    • Everyday life in Ulster – industrial Belfast, linen, shipbuilding, and domestic life.
    • The Troubles Gallery – a sensitive, sometimes controversial attempt to tell the story of conflict in Northern Ireland in a balanced way.

    It’s not a dry, glass-case sort of history. There are films, personal stories, and objects you’ll recognise from news footage if you’ve grown up anywhere near here. It’s one of the best places to get context for everything else you see on the streets of Belfast – murals, memorials, even the way districts are divided.

    Biology & Natural Sciences: Dinosaurs, Fossils and Habitats

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    Upstairs, things get wilder. The natural science galleries cover zoology, geology and botany:

    • The dinosaur corner – including Ireland’s only known dinosaur fossil bones, a small but proud claim to fame.
    • Stuffed animals & birds – classic museum fare, but arranged to tell stories about habitats and extinction rather than just lining things up in cases.
    • Rocks, minerals and fossils – from sparkling crystals to chunks of meteorite.
    • Irish wildlife & coastline – great for kids who like “eww” moments with creepy-crawlies, shells and specimens in jars.

    Ulster Museum’s collections are rooted in serious scientific work – there’s a huge herbarium and extensive zoological collections behind the scenes – but the public galleries are very hands-on and family-friendly.

    Art & Design: Irish Masters and Global Voices

    The art galleries shift the mood again: quiet rooms, polished floors, and that hush you automatically adopt around paintings.

    The collection is strong in:

    • Modern Irish and Ulster artists, built up steadily since the 1940s.
    • Contemporary art and temporary exhibitions, often tackling themes like identity, migration, or environmental change.
    • Fashion and textiles, rebuilt after a devastating fire in the 1970s destroyed much of the original costume collection. The museum used compensation to acquire couture pieces from designers like Chanel, Dior, Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood, alongside everyday fashion.

    You can walk from a 19th-century landscape to a sharp, modern installation in a few steps. It’s a nice counterpoint to the heaviness of some of the historical material downstairs.

    The Visit: Practical Vibe

    A few things that make Ulster Museum especially easy to recommend:

    • Location: Right in Botanic Gardens, so you can pair a museum visit with a wander through the Palm House, Tropical Ravine or just a picnic on the grass.
    • Neighbourhood: It sits in the Queen’s Quarter, with Queen’s University and Methody as close neighbours, plus cafes, pubs and bookshops along Botanic Avenue and Stranmillis Road.
    • Cost: General admission is free, with charges only for certain special exhibitions or events.
    • Opening hours: Typically Tuesday–Sunday, 10:00–17:00, closed on Mondays – always worth checking the official site before you go in case of changes.

  • Belfast Victoria Park Run

    Arek Jaworski at Belfast Victoria

    On Saturday I completed another 5k Park Run at Victoria Park in Belfast.

    This time I decided to take the run easy and I wasn’t trying to beat my Personal Best (at the moment it’s 23:01).

    Here are my results:

    Congratulations on completing your 30th parkrun and your 20th at Belfast Victoria parkrun today. You finished in 111th place out of a field of 229 parkrunners. You were the 83rd male and came 11th in your age category VM40-44

    Worth noting was that it was my 30th park run! My time was 25:17 (two minutes slower than my PB).

    PositionparkrunnerGenderAge GroupClubTime
    111Arek JAWORSKIMaleVM40-44 25:17

  • Belfast City Hall

    Belfast City Hall

    On Donegall Square, Belfast City Hall sprawls like an Edwardian “wedding cake” of Portland stone and copper—grand, symmetrical, and impossible to miss. Designed by Sir Alfred Brumwell Thomas, construction began in 1898 and finished in 1906, crowning the city’s new status as a bustling industrial capital.

    City Hall replaced the old White Linen Hall and signalled civic confidence during Belfast’s boom years. It has witnessed everything from royal visits to wartime blackouts and post-conflict celebrations. A major restoration closed the building in 2007–2009, renewing services and interiors (about £10.5 m across phases), before reopening to the public with refreshed tours and galleries.

    Out on the lawns, memorials trace the city’s story: the Cenotaph to WWI dead and the Titanic Memorial Garden—opened on 15 April 2012—whose bronze plaques uniquely list all 1,512 victims of the disaster.

    Quick Facts:

    • Architect & style: Sir Alfred Brumwell Thomas, Baroque Revival/Edwardian grandeur.
    • Built: 1898–1906; cost: ~£360–369k (then).
    • Dome: ~173–174 ft (53 m), copper-clad; corner towers on all four sides.
    • Materials: Portland stone exterior; rich marbles inside.
    • Today: HQ of Belfast City Council; free public exhibition, tours, and café (“The Bobbin”).

  • Europa Hotel

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    On Great Victoria Street, the Europa Hotel rises like a silvered time capsule of Belfast’s grit and charm. Opened in 1971 on the site of the old Great Northern Railway terminus, the 12-storey, 51 m tower by Sydney Kaye, Eric Firkin & Partners became a front-row seat to history—and a city-centre beacon again today.

    Quick Facts:

    • Opened: July 1971; Architects: Sydney Kaye, Eric Firkin & Partners.
    • Height / floors: ~51 m, 12 storeys.
    • Rooms: 272 (after later extensions/refurbs).
    • Famous claim: Often described as the “most bombed hotel”—accounts vary, with sources citing ~28–33 attacks during the Troubles.

    From Troubles to turnaround

    Journalists made it their base through the worst years, but the hotel kept trading, then found a second life when Hastings Hotels bought it in 1993, invested ~£8 m and reopened in 1994. In November 1995, President Bill Clinton stayed here (110 rooms were booked for the entourage); the penthouse suite he used became the Clinton Suite. Recent years brought a five-year, £15 m refurbishment across all 272 rooms, bars, and meeting spaces—sealing the Europa’s status as a polished city landmark.

  • Titanic Museum

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    On the old Harland and Wolff slipways, Titanic Belfast lifts four glittering “prows” into the sky—part ship, part iceberg, all theatre. Conceived by CivicArts / Eric R. Kuhne and Associates and delivered with Todd Architects, the 8-storey landmark opened for the centenary in March 2012 and has since become Belfast’s postcard icon.

    Quick facts:

    • Where and when: Titanic Quarter, on the very ground where RMS Titanic and Olympic were built; ground broke in 2009, doors opened 31 March 2012.
    • Architects: Concept by CivicArts / Eric R. Kuhne & Associates; lead consultants Todd Architects.
    • Height and scale: 38.5 m (126 ft) at the peak, roughly the height of Titanic’s hull; around 12,000–14,000 m² of floorspace.
    • Cladding: ~3,000 anodised aluminium “shards,” about 2,000 unique; ~6,200 m² of rainscreen.
    • Cost: ~£101 million.
    • Awards: World’s Leading Tourist Attraction (2016) at the World Travel Awards; also Europe’s Leading Visitor Attraction that year.

  • Obel Tower

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    On Donegall Quay where the Lagan meets the city, the Obel Building lifts a glassy curve into Belfast’s skyline. Completed in 2010–2011, it stands about 85 m tall with 28 storeys, making it the tallest building in Belfast (and on the island of Ireland). The scheme was designed by Broadway Malyan, with residential apartments stacked above ground-floor retail and a separate office element.

    The project launched in the mid-2000s boom, hit the brakes in the financial crisis, then crossed the finish line around 2011. Soon after opening, Allen & Overy took the available office space; the residential tower later went through administration in 2012 before being acquired in 2014 and refurbished in 2016. Today it anchors the revitalised waterfront, a modern counterpoint to the Lagan Weir and the bridges beside it.

    Quick facts:

    • Height / floors: ~85 m, 28 storeys.
    • Where: 62 Donegall Quay, right on the River Lagan.
    • Use: Mostly residential, with offices and ground-floor units.
    • Architect: Broadway Malyan.
    • Claim to fame: Tallest building in Belfast and Northern Ireland (and widely cited as tallest in Ireland).

  • Ashby Building

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    On Stranmillis Road, a crisp white tower rose in the 1960s. Manchester firm Cruickshank & Seward drew it in 1960; by 1965 the reinforced-concrete frame wore an Antrim limestone skin, and in 1966 the doors finally opened.

    It took its name from Sir Eric Ashby — the reforming vice-chancellor who led Queen’s through a building boom and, fittingly, performed the opening ceremony.

    Since then the Ashby has been an engine-room of the university: eleven storeys of labs, lecture theatres and research groups, home to Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering and EEECS, with the Advanced Micro-Engineering Centre perched on the 10th floor.

    A major £26 million refurbishment between 2010–2013 polished (but didn’t tame) its modernist lines; in 2018 it was graded B+ as one of Northern Ireland’s best large in-situ concrete buildings — a true South Belfast landmark.

  • Arek Jaworski – Researcher, Software Engineer, and AI Innovator in Belfast

    Arek Jaworski and Titanic Belfast Museum

    If you’ve spent any time around the tech or research scene in Belfast, you’ve probably heard the name Arek Jaworski. He’s the kind of person who can jump from discussing Fourier transforms and diffraction patterns to joking about how his lemon tree refuses to fruit indoors. A rare blend of scientist, engineer, and philosopher, Arek embodies what happens when curiosity meets persistence.

    Born in Poland, Arek began his academic journey with a BSc in Physics from Nicolaus Copernicus University. Later, he moved to Northern Ireland, where he earned an MSc in Computing from Ulster University and went on to pursue a PhD at Queen’s University Belfast. His research lies at the intersection of computer vision, optics, and artificial intelligence — specifically the development of models for real-time water quality analysis using digital holographic microscopy. In simple terms, Arek is teaching computers how to “see” microscopic worlds through diffraction.

    What makes his work fascinating isn’t just the code — it’s the curiosity that drives it. While others see random specks of light, Arek Jaworski sees a story about structure, shape, and movement. He’s fascinated by how tiny patterns can reveal big truths about the environment, especially the growing issue of microplastic pollution in water. His work combines physics and deep learning to detect and analyze these patterns with unprecedented precision.

    Outside the lab, Arek Jaworski is equally at home in the world of software development. Having worked as a software architect and engineer, he’s fluent in the languages that power the modern digital world — Python, JavaScript, and beyond. He’s also an advocate of open-source collaboration, believing that sharing knowledge accelerates innovation. Many of his projects — from AI-driven image analysis tools to custom annotation apps — reflect his belief that research should be practical, accessible, and meaningful.

    Lemon Tree - Arek Jaworski

    But there’s more to Arek than algorithms and academic papers. Friends describe him as someone who finds beauty in precision, whether he’s tuning a machine-learning model or repotting his plants. His lemon tree — a recurring character in his stories — often appears in his posts as a quiet metaphor for resilience and growth. He jokes that if the tree ever bears fruit, it’ll probably deserve co-authorship on his next research paper.

    Those who’ve worked with Arek know his attention to detail and his ability to explain complex topics in a simple, engaging way. He’s that rare researcher who can make you care about diffraction rings, neural networks, and optical interference — sometimes all in one sentence. His writing, whether technical or personal, always reflects a balance between scientific rigor and human warmth.

    On his website, jaworski.pl, you’ll find reflections on research, coding adventures, and everyday observations about life in Belfast — a city that’s both his home and creative base. Belfast’s mix of history, culture, and weather (often all three at once) seems to match his personality: resilient, a little unpredictable, and quietly determined.

    Arek Jaworski represents a new kind of academic — one who doesn’t draw hard lines between science, technology, and art. His journey from Poland to Northern Ireland, from physics to artificial intelligence, mirrors the way modern research flows across disciplines. In every project, there’s a touch of craftsmanship and care — a sense that each dataset, like each leaf on his lemon tree, deserves attention.

    If you’re curious about innovation, AI, or just want a glimpse into the mind of someone who genuinely loves what he does, Arek is a name worth remembering. His story is still unfolding, with new experiments, ideas, and collaborations on the horizon. And if history is any guide, you’ll probably find him somewhere between a microscope, a Python script, and that ever-hopeful lemon tree — still chasing light, patterns, and meaning.

  • Key Facts

    Capital of: Northern Ireland

    River: The Lagan (it’s shyer than the Thames, but just as photogenic if you catch it on a good day)

    Mountains: Cave Hill staring judgmentally at your step count

    Iconic sights: Harland & Wolff cranes (Samson & Goliath), City Hall, Titanic Belfast, the Albert Clock (Belfast’s leaning cousin of Pisa)

    Currency: Pound sterling (for your wallet); kindness (for the rest)

    Weather: “Layers” is not advice, it’s law

    Sports: Rugby, ice-hockey, football, and the sprint for shelter when it starts to spit

    Tea: Strong enough to stand a spoon in. Sugar? “Aye go ‘head.”