The Building’s Not Empty is a short fiction film set inside Riddel’s Warehouse, a historic building in Belfast. Moving between the present day and different moments from the building’s past, the film uses fictional characters and scenes to bring fragments of its social history back into the spaces where they may once have unfolded.

Structured as a journey through the warehouse, the film gradually guides the audience through its rooms, corridors and architectural traces. A present-day film crew enters the building, while workers, families, wartime occupants and detainees emerge across overlapping timelines. Through movement, sound and atmosphere, the warehouse becomes more than a backdrop: it becomes an active presence within the story.

Developed as part of my MA in Film at Queen’s University Belfast, the project explores how fiction can contribute to the audiovisual preservation of a historic building. Filmed during a period of conservation and change, it records the warehouse’s physical condition while also using storytelling to make its layered histories visible, accessible and emotionally engaging.

Written, directed, produced and edited by me, the film was created in collaboration with a multicultural cast and crew and with the support of Hearth Historic Buildings Trust.