Giant's Park

The Giant's Park area

At 340 acres, the North Foreshore of Belfast Lough is the largest development site in the city. 

Known as Giant’s Park, this area offers huge potential to deliver physical, economic and social benefits for citizens as part of our physical investment programme. 

With funding from our physical investment programme, Invest Northern Ireland and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) - through the European Sustainable Competitiveness Programme for Northern Ireland, we have transformed this former landfill site into Belfast’s largest regeneration site. 

This £9 million investment to deliver the infrastructure and prepare the site for development has acted as a catalyst for further investment on the site.

Belfast Harbour Studios

Belfast Harbour Commissioners (BHC) opened a £20 million film studio complex on the site in 2017, now known as Phase 1 of their wider development plans. The complex stretches over seven acres and includes:

• two film studios and sound stages of approximately 33,000 square feet each;
• two workshop buildings of approximately 11,000 square feet each; and
• a three-storey 37,000 square foot office and production building.

In June 2017, the Superman prequel KRYPTON, produced for the SYFY channel, was confirmed as the first production to be housed in the studios. Since then, the studios have hosted a number of major productions including The School for Good and Evil, The Northman, Lift and most recently How to Train Your Dragon.

BHC have recently completed a further extension to the site known as Phase 2A. This phase represents a further significant investment, bringing the total overall site area to approximately 20 acres. It added the following additional facilities:

• Studio Ulster - a screen and media innovation lab. This Belfast Region City Deal project will be operated by Ulster University and industry partners. Their aim is to establish a centre of excellence for research, development and innovation for virtual production.
• Two further film studio and sound stages of approximately 41,000 square feet with ancillary office and production space of 32,500 square feet.
• Further workshop buildings of approximately 29,000 square feet.

For Phase 2B, BHC has secured planning permission to construct additional studios, workshops and a vendor village.

Commercial leisure led, mixed use

We have entered into a Master Development Agreement (MDA) with developer Giant’s Park Belfast Limited which will invest almost £100 million in regenerating over 250 acres of the site into the following proposed hubs:

• Adventure hub – proposals include a welcome building, activity zones, viewing point, community allotments, demonstration gardens, wildflower meadows, natural biodiversity areas and interconnecting pathways.
• Pitstop hub – proposals include a hotel, petrol and electric vehicle (EV) filling station, fast food outlets and incubator units.
• Distribution and logistics hub – proposals for up to three extensive distribution and logistics buildings.
• Welcome hub – proposals include a garden centre, indoor leisure facility and driving range.

The project will be developed in phases, with construction of the adventure hub scheduled to commence in late 2025 and all hubs scheduled for completion by 2029. The plans will bring jobs to the local and wider area, both through the development phase and upon completion and create a major visitor attraction.

Additional investment

We have approved the lease of a site for construction of an anaerobic digestion facility to generate and export energy from biodegradable waste. The development is expected to attract an investment of £40 million.

Further plans

We continue to promote development opportunities to companies working in renewable energy, solar power, recycling and other environmental technologies, who are keen to invest in Belfast and take advantage of our strong skills base, accessible location and growing clean-tech sector.

Commercial estate agents Lisney have been appointed to market sites at Giant’s Park to potential occupiers, investors and developers. A comprehensive marketing campaign exposes the opportunities to local, national and international audiences. 

For further information about these opportunities, call Lisney on 028 9050 1501.