The Coal Exchange (also known as Exchange Building ) is a historic building in Cardiff, Wales.
Built in 1888 as Coal and Shipping Exchange for use as market floor and office building for coal trading in Cardiff, then the global coal trading hub. It is located on Mount Stuart Square in Butetown, and for many years is the epicenter of the prosperous shipping industry.
It then became a music venue, with offices still used in the West Wing, before being sealed indefinitely in 2013 for building security concerns. After a series of proposals to destroy the building, the Cardiff Council purchased the Coal Exchange, and by 2016 the building was fully refurbished and now occupied by the hotel, with a museum detailing the history of the building and Cardiff Docks.
Video Coal Exchange
History
Construction and Early History
Before the Coal Exchange was built in Mount Stuart Square, this area is a residential area with a main park. It was taken over by trade as the city grew in prosperity. Built to provide a special location for traders and merchants to sell coal, it follows the construction of similar functional buildings in London, Liverpool and Manchester. Prior to its construction, coal traders were used to change coal prices that changed on the blackboard outside their offices or make deals at local public houses. Constructed and opened gradually, the main trading hall and the eastern bloc finish first. The trading hall is a large central room where the office suites are located. London and the Provincial Banking Company occupy the majority of the north side.
Since Cardiff is the largest coal harbor in the world, it was built between 1884 and 1888 by Edwin Seward as a base for trade negotiations on the South Wales Valley coal mine - mostly sent to Cardiff for distribution.
This building played an important role in the Cardiff industry in the 19th century. Corinthian column alloys, oak balconies, and rich wood paneling adorn the trading hall, which was reconstructed by Edwin Seward in 1911.
After its opening, the owners of coal, boat owners and their agents meet daily on the floor of the trading hall where agreements are made by word of mouth and telephone. During peak hour trading hours until one o'clock, the floor may have as many as 200 people moving their hands and shouting. It is estimated that up to 10,000 people will enter and exit the building every day. At one time the world coal price was determined here. It was at the Coal Exchange that the first Ã, Â £ 1,000,000 deal was agreed in 1904. The interior of the building was renovated extravagantly in 1912 by Edwin Seward, and reopened as the 'New Stock Building'. In 1915, an extension was added to the south, connected to the trading hall.
Postwar period
Cardiff's dependence on coal makes Bute Docks particularly vulnerable to declining demand. With the end of the war, the docks are declining. The Coal Exchange closed in 1958 and coal exports ended in 1964. The southern extension was destroyed in the 1970s. The building became Grade II * registered in 1975.
In 1979, the Coal Exchange was designated as the future home of the proposed Welsh Assembly and a highly reinforced underground parking lot was built (also considered a nuclear sanctuary) but plans for devolution were rejected by the Welsh people in a referendum. In 1983 the building was regarded as the headquarters for the Welsh-language television station S4C, although it also failed to take off. Exchange Hall was used very regularly during this period as a filming location for various parts of the entertainment industry, for example the BBC drama Bevan .
Reopening and closing
In 1988, the building was repurchased and then fully refurbished in 2001 to turn it into a prime spot. Event venues such as the Arctic Monkey, Manic Street Preachers, Ocean Color Scene, Stereophonics, Van Morrison and Biffy Clyro.
Coal Exchange closes on August 7, 2013 as a result of building security issues. With the subsequent liquidation of the company that owns it in 2014, the ownership of the Coal Stock goes to the Crown Estate. This then became the subject of an attempt to preserve the historic structure of the building by a non-profit organization, Save the Coal Exchange Limited. In February 2015, Welsh Government Economic Minister Edwina Hart commissioned a feasibility study for future reuse of the building. In May 2015, it was confirmed that the exchange will be used for filming from The Crow . In 2016, filmmaker Nick Broomfield visited the building as part of his documentary Going Going Gone , which investigated the damage and legacy of the Coal Exchange.
Hotel Exchange
In 2016 it was announced that the building would be fully refurbished as a hotel by a private company, Signature Living, with a museum detailing the history of the building and Cardiff Docks. The proposal received some opposition, including from the Victorian Society and MP Stephen Doughty. The Cardiff Board granted planning permission in July 2016. In June 2017, the BBC broadcast a documentary titled Saving Coal Exchange , which saw the development of the building into a hotel. The hotel opened in May 2017. Offers 200 bedrooms, a restaurant, spa facilities. Restoration retains its original structure, including a number of original features including a warning dedicated to World War I and the great hall, which was formerly a trading floor.
Maps Coal Exchange
Design
The building is mostly built in limestone, in the style of the French Renaissance. The exterior is made of pale Corsham stone on three sides, with yellow brick in the west. The roof is a slate, topped with some chimney especially in yellow brick. His style comes from the French Renaissance model. The main front entrance faces south. The building consists of three floors and a basement, plus an attic at the front of the center, with a pavilion roof that is hipped. The entrance is guarded by a pair of fluted Corinthian columns, and is covered with a flower relief in a triangular pediment targeted by the Royal Arms. In the northeast corner, steps lead to a projected veranda that's housed in Barclays Bank, residents here since the building opened.
The interior maintains an entrance space with a ceiling ceiling formed by Jacobethan style, paneled walls, and woodblock and inlay floors. Behind there are two lions on a tall pole supporting a facial clock that shows high tide times in Cardiff. Central Coal and Central shipments dominate the building, surrounded by gallery levels, in a dark wood Jacobethan style. The false ceiling has reduced the height to 2 floors, hiding a glass-coated roof.
Access
Coal Exchange is serviced by Cardiff Bay train station and Cardiff Bus services 7, 8, 35 and Baycar.
See also
- List of cultural places in Cardiff
- Mining in Wales
- Cardiff music
- Coal of South Wales
References
External links
- Archived website (coalexchange.co.uk)
- Hotel Bursa
Media related to Coal Exchange in Wikimedia Commons
Source of the article : Wikipedia