Interface Barriers

In early 2017, Belfast Interface Project (BIP) commissioned a piece of research carried out by the Institute for Conflict Research (ICR) to identify and classify the known security barriers and associated forms of defensive architecture in residential areas across Northern Ireland, drawing on previous research for BIP (focusing only on Belfast City) by ICR (2011, 2008) and by Frankie Quinn (2005).

The purpose of this work is to create a common information set regarding the manifestation of defensive architecture. The resulting barriers have been mapped by Detail Data. You can view the map on the BIP website.

Clusters

The different structures are contained within a number of 'clusters' - groupings of distinct and separate, but related, instances of defensively used space.

Ownership and Year Built

Owing to the historical nature of some of the structures, it is not always possible to identify owners in a small number of cases, and identifying the exact year when a structure was built is not always possible.

Abbreviations

• BCC - Belfast City Council
• BIP - Belfast Interface Project
• DoJ - Department of Justice (NI)
• DRD - Department of Regional Development (now Department of Infrastructure)
• NIHE - Northern Ireland Housing Executive
• ICR - Institute for Conflict Research