Cardiff City Hall

Cardiff City Hall is a quadrangular Baroque-style building faced with Portland Stone. It stands on a deeply banded basement with broad areas of banding at angles, and features two and three storeys with small-pane steel glazing. A tower rises to the west, with a smaller tower to the rear.

The south-east elevation displays a central projecting wing of five bays topped by an octagonal drum bearing maritime sculptures by H Poole, with round windows and a semi-circular dome serving the council chamber. This dome is crowned by a snarling Welsh Dragon finial by H C Fehr mounted on a lantern. A one-storey porte cochère with trophies and lion masks projects from the centre bay of the wing beneath a saucer dome, with heavy iron-grille gates featuring relief decoration at the entrances. Above the porte cochère, a round-headed window projects into the entablature, flanked by two blank openings decorated with trophies. Lateral wings of two storeys and six bays project to west and east from the centre, featuring rectangular windows above with aprons and panelling between windows, and round-headed windows in concave surrounds below. At each end, splayed bays of two storeys rise to an attic storey surmounted by sculptural groups; the western group by Paul Montford represents Poetry and Music, while the eastern group by Henry Poole depicts Unity and Patriotism.

The western elevation features wide projecting windowless bays at each end, with rusticated quoins and attic storeys containing oval lunettes. Intermediate wings of nine-bay width carry fenestration matching the south-east front, though outer sections have square-headed windows to the ground floor. At the centre of the west front, a splayed three-sided bay rises through two storeys and an attic, with a rectangular doorway and window above in the centre ground floor facet. First floor windows are rectangular-headed, with the centre facet window decorated with trophies and surmounted by a parapet rising above a curved-headed attic window. Above this rises a clock tower approximately 61 metres high, with a plain lower section and ornate Baroque upper portion surmounted by a cupola with carving by H C Fehr. Below the cupola, a stage features open windows and volutes, followed by a stage with putti and cartouches above the clock stage, which has openwork clock faces. Composite columns flank the openings with balcony grilles, and Michelangelesque seated figures representing The Four Winds occupy the corners.

The north elevation has three storeys with a central canted bay, square windows to the upper floor, and rectangular windows beneath, with camber-headed windows featuring voussoirs below. An entrance to the central yard is present; yard elevations are in yellow brick with modern glazed infill to the east. The east elevation has a central slightly advanced five-window block with a splayed central bay and sculptural group above, with seven windows to each side.

The interior comprises a sumptuous sequence of brilliantly managed public and civic spaces. The porte-cochère leads to a polygonal lobby with stairs ascending to an inner lobby. A deep rectangular entrance hall faced in Bath stone features a staircase to each side with a rich bronze balustrade, which rises to a mezzanine landing before a longer flight of steps leads to an expansive first floor hall. The floor is paved with polychrome marble; paired Doric columns with bronze capitals and bases and yellow-veined marble shafts support the ceiling. The landing is side-lit by tall round-arched windows with stained glass. A broad plaster band runs along the ceiling with plaster foliage relief. Yellow marble architraves frame doors; above the doorways at the ends are plaster shells and merfolk by Henry Poole. Groups of life-size statues of Welsh Heroes by leading sculptors stand on yellow-and-white marble pedestals. Bronze reliefs to Sir E J Reed and Captain R F Scott appear on lower landings.

To the south lies the Council Chamber, designed in a style following Italian High Renaissance models. A coffered shallow dome is supported by four broad piers set diagonally, with spandrels pierced by round windows containing plaster palm-fronds and ventilation grilles. Arches between the piers to east and west feature flanking Ionic marble columns with swagged bronze capitals supporting the entablature. The grand south window contains stained glass personifying Villa Cardiff by A Garth Jones (1905). Fine seventeenth-century-style wall panelling in oak with lighter inlay of the Cardiff arms lines the chamber; original circular banks of wooden seating, partly built into the panelling, feature barley-sugar posts and broad arms. To the east, the mayoral seat forms a screen to the lobby with similar panelling; to the west, an arch leads to a similar lobby with a visitors gallery above. An exceptionally elaborate bronze electrolier by Rickards, featuring Prince of Wales feathers and mirrors, hangs in the chamber, along with smaller wall brackets in bronze.

To the north of the landing, members' rooms flank entrances to the Grand Assembly Hall, which features a tunnel-vaulted ceiling with transverse and longitudinal banding and elaborate plaster reliefs by G P Bankart. The room is lit by thermal windows at clerestorey level, which break into the vault and are decorated with cartouches above. Ionic marble columns support the entablature and diagonal scrolls by the windows. Walls are panelled with matching doors. At one end, a recessed stage features flanking pairs of marble columns. Three exceptionally elaborate bronze electroliers, as in the council chamber, light this space.

At the front corners of the building, the Lord Mayor's Parlour and Members' Room are said to contain arched recesses and circular clerestorey windows. Corridors with committee rooms and offices feature simple classicising doorcases and panelled doors. On the ground floor, a large Benefits Office is fitted with Doric columns painted as yellow-veined marble, wooden panelling, and classicising doors. A secondary entrance in King Edward VII Avenue has mosaic floors, two lobbies, and arches to a secondary stair with an iron balustrade.