Restoration work has started at the former Harland & Wolff Headquarters building in Belfast's Titanic Quarter.

The development of the four-storey, 84-bedroom hotel is being managed by Titanic Quarter Ltd.

Titanic Foundation, with the help of a £4.9 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund's Heritage Enterprise programme, is supporting the restoration of the Drawing Offices.

The scheme, which will include three pavilions, will be publicly accessible for tours, events and exhibitions. Both projects are expected to open in 2017, creating 100 new jobs."

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James Eyre, Titanic Quarter's Commercial Director, said: It's been a long-term ambition of Titanic Quarter to fully restore Harland & Wolff's former Headquarters and create a sustainable use for the building that will safeguard it for future generations.

"Thanks to Titanic Foundation and the Heritage Lottery Fund we now have the opportunity to create an amazing building and something which we want to be the pride of Belfast.

"The huge success of the nearby Titanic Belfast has already helped revolutionise Northern Ireland’s tourism offer. The prospect of being able to stay and dine in the very rooms once paced by the Chairmen of Harland & Wolff will be an enormous pull for tourists from across the world and will be a major boost for Northern Ireland’s tourism industry."

(CD/LM)