EHOD Titanic Hotel Belfast Shipyard Stories

As part of European Heritage Open Weekend 2026, Maritime Belfast Trust invites visitors to explore the restoration and revival of one of Belfast’s most significant heritage buildings, the former Harland & Wolff Headquarters and Drawing Offices.

The weekend programme will celebrate how this once derelict building was carefully restored and transformed into the award winning Titanic Hotel Belfast, while highlighting the importance of protecting Belfast’s maritime heritage for future generations.

Visitors will enjoy free self guided access to the heritage spaces, including the historic Drawing Offices, heritage rooms, Telephone Exchange and Director’s Entrance. Original tools, objects and artefacts connected to Harland & Wolff’s shipbuilding heritage will be brought out for a special show and tell display during the weekend. Donated and loaned by former shipyard workers and their families, these pieces help tell the personal stories of the people who worked within Belfast’s maritime industry. Highlights include the Thompson Works Theodolite, an original surveying instrument from the shipyard, alongside tools belonging to a Shipwright, Joiner, Caulker, Welder and Draughtsman. Some of these tools are believed to have been used during the construction of RMS Titanic itself.

Visitors will also discover many artefacts already displayed throughout the heritage rooms and Drawing Offices of Titanic Hotel Belfast, including handcrafted furniture made by Harland & Wolff cabinetmakers and historic objects connected to the building’s industrial past, offering insight into the people, stories and craftsmanship that shaped Belfast’s shipbuilding legacy.

The event will also feature the return of the Maritime Mile Heritage Lab, an interactive showcase exploring how technology and innovation can help protect and reinterpret heritage. Visitors will be able to experience projects including Maritime Echoes: An AI Voyage to the Past, which brings historic maritime figures to life through AI storytelling, and Yardman’s Trail AR Stories, where visitors can access holographic stories and voices from Belfast’s shipyard communities through augmented reality experiences.

An interactive heritage screen will invite audiences to contribute reflections and memories about Belfast’s waterfront heritage, helping shape future storytelling and interpretation projects across the Maritime Mile.

Discover the unique history of Titanic Hotel Belfast and explore the iconic Drawing Offices and heritage spaces of Harland & Wolff’s former headquarters building during European Heritage Open Weekend 2026.