List of tallest buildings and structures in Belfast

This list of the tallest buildings and structures in Belfast ranks buildings and structures in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by height. Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, and hosts the majority of its high-rise buildings. The tallest building in the city is Obel Tower at 86 metres, a residential high-rise completed in 2010. It is the tallest building in both Northern Ireland and the entire island of Ireland. The tallest structure is the Black Mountain transmitting station, which rises to a height of 228.6 m
There are at least 10 structures in the city taller than and there are at least 36 habitable buildings in the city taller than.

Tallest by category

The tallest building in Belfast is the Obel Tower at. It is the tallest building in both Northern Ireland and the island of Ireland.
The tallest structure in Belfast is the Black Mountain transmission station, servicing TV and Radio, at.
The tallest free standing and occupied structure is the Harland and Wolf shipbuilding gantry crane Samson at.
The tallest chimney is the Belfast City Hospital chimney at.
The tallest church is Belfast Cathedral at.
The tallest clock is the Albert Memorial Clock at.

Tallest structures

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

Rank	Name	Use	Image	Height	Height	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	305	23	1975	The building portion of the hotel is only 80 metres tall, while the structural element reaches a height of 93 metres.
9	Obel	Residential		86	281	28	2010
10	St Anne's Cathedral	Church		80	262	N/A	2007

Tallest buildings

This list ranks buildings in Belfast that stand at least 200 m tall, based on standard height measurement. This includes spires and architectural details but does not include antenna masts.

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	Height	Year of Construction	Notes
1	St Anne's Cathedral	Anglican Cathedral		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	Floors	Notes
Divis Transmitting station	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	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' 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.

Name	Image	Use	Height	Floors	Notes
Royal Victoria children's Hospital	*Add when crane erected any cgi image will likely be removed due to copyright	Hospital	61	12	Demolition of Bostock House underway.
Bankmore square		Office and Student Accommodation	58 and 56	14 and 17	Under construction Approved 16/04/24 Construction due Sept 24 with completion in 2026 for office and 2027 for student accommodation. Redesign of previously approved proposal with smaller footprint and similar height. Area now temporary trade market and events space. Two new Pans Full application for office Full application for student accom
Loftlines	add pic when crane up	btr and social housing	57 max also 45	18 max also 14	construction started 26/06/2023 link to planning app Planning ref:LA04/2021/2280/F

Approved

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

Name	Use	Height	Floors	Notes
City Quay 4	Residential	76.4	23	Belfast Harbour proposal in 2019 PAN submitted September 2022 Planning ref:LA04/2022/1752/PAN Full application submitted LA04/2023/2388/F with confirmed planned height in documents recommended for approval in Dec 2023 planning meeting, height slightly increased and full planned height confirmed. Approved in Jan 16 2024 planning meeting
Royal Victoria Hospital energy centre	Power station	70	N/A	Granted planning permission in Belfast City council's 14/12/21 planning meeting This will not be a 'habitable building' but a prominent structure. Planning ref: LA04/2021/1492/F.
39 Corporation Street	Student accommodation	67	20	proposed in 2024 and full planning documents uploaded in 2025 approved June 2025 planning committee
21-29 Corporation street	Mixed use	63	19	Proposed in 2018, pre planning accepted, renders of design produced by developer Macleer and Rushe in 2020. Formal planning application imminent. Note site has previous applications up to 20 stories accepted planning permission including offices and 250 bedroom hotel but nothing has come of it yet with site still derelict. Full Planning application submitted August 2021 Planning ref LA04/2021/2016/F. was approved in Jan 16th 2024 planning meeting
Sirroco waterside quays office	Office	58.3	13	Approved 2020 Planning ref: LA04/2018/0448/F.
The Residence	Residential	57.5	19	Approved in November 2020 planning meeting. Site has been put up for sale in 2021. Planning ref:LA04/2019/2387/F.
Lanyon View Dalton street	Residential	56.7	17	Approved 2019 and again in 2021 after dispute. Planning ref: LA04/2018/2649/F.
Belfast Harbour 480 mW gas power station	Power station	54.2	N/A	Approved 2019 Not a 'habitable building' but a prominent structure. Planning ref: LA04/2017/0878/F.
River Walk	Residential	54	17	Approved 2020 Planning ref: 2019/0517/F.
81-87 Academy street	Residential	54	16	Approved 2019 Land bought by Tribeca Developers 2021 Reapproved 24/11/2021. Planning ref: LA04/2019/2257/F.
City Quays 5	Mixed Use	48.5	10	full planning submitted Dec 20 2023 Approved 27/06/2024
Bedford yard	Aparthotel	45	13	Approved 2020 and again in 2021 after dispute. Planning ref: LA04/2020/0659/F.
Dorchester House	apart hotel	45	12	reclad change of use and two storey extension of existing office building. Approved 18/06/2024

List of unbuilt buildings

Table of tallest proposed buildings that never came to fruition, either due to planning permission or financial issues.

Name	Height	Floors	Notes
Aurora building	109	37	Site currently a petrol station, planning was refused mainly due to precarious financial state of developer and opposition to building height.
Bedford Square phase 2	104.5	26	Gained planning approval in 2005 but plans were scaled down after property market crash in 2008. A 17 storey office is currently under construction on its proposed site.
Belfast Vetro Hotel	100	26
54 Pilot Street	97.5	30	Now 19 storey building proposed on same site
Sirocco Quay	92	30	Had outline planning permission but was changed into a 17 storey office development city quays 3 which is currently under construction
Queen's Quay block E1	92	30	Land bought by another developer creating their own masterplan.
Royal Exchange Tower	91	26	Now Tribeca masterplan with shorter buildings to protect listed buildings from being dominated,
Odyssey quays tower	88	29	previous withdrawn proposal, there is currently a 28 storey tower proposed on the same site.
Murray Tobacco works	84.5	28	Majority of site was bought by Translink who are using it as part of a mixed use development around their transport hub called Weaver's Cross. There is preplanning discussions for a 17 floor residential tower in the remaining land.
Midland Building	76	25	site is now student accommodation
St George's Gate	76	24	Application withdrawn, still seen as a development opportunity site
Hope and History	70	21	Proposed in 2005, planning refused.
Brunswick Street tower	70	17	Planning was approved, land is being used for Mcclintock street student accommodation and Maldron hotel, there is still unused land on the site.
One Grosvenor Gate	62	16	new application for 800 student accom in.
Bridge end towers	61	19	Application withdrawn, site still vacant.
Titanic Quarter Financial campus	60	12	was approved, but now site has a new proposal of purpose managed student accommodation
Bankmore Square	57	12	was approved, now being split into apartments and a slimmer office pans are in for both.

History of Belfast's tallest building

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

Name	Years tallest	Height	Image
St. Peter's Cathedral	1866-1875	50
Carlisle Memorial Church	1875-1877	52
St Patrick's Church	1877-1966	55
Churchill House	1966-1975	66
Windsor House	1st 1975-2007 Joint 1st 2007-2010	80
Belfast Cathedral	Joint 1st 2007-2010	80
Obel Tower	2010-	86