St David's Hall

St David's Hall

St David's Hall occupies a rectangular site running back from Working Street towards the south-west corner of St David's Shopping Centre. It is a striking example of late brutalism, with an emphasis on materials, texture and construction that achieves expressive forms within the constraints of its site whilst remaining sensitive to context at the heart of the historic city.

The building has an in-situ concrete frame with a large span steel roof clad in lead. The main façade faces Working Street. The auditorium block stands at the north end, with a 4-storey frontage above ground floor shops, comprising 3+3 structural bays articulated by the grid of the concrete frame. The two upper storeys of the right-hand section are canted out. The overall effect is a play of solids and voids achieved through solid infill panels and cladding in pre-cast concrete, horizontal window bands, and recessed balconies. The irregular hexagon of the mansard roof over the auditorium is in two sections: a lower 'skirt' rakes back from the wall tops to a recessed band of windows, and the mass of the roof rises from this slightly set back base, appearing to hover above the main building structure. Staircases and plant rooms project from the roof volume above the south-west façade. This façade runs back at an angle to the south, where the corner of the site is occupied by the lower entrance block with polygonal façade and canted balconies jutting out over the recessed entrance. At first floor level, this façade is now partially concealed behind an LED screen installed for the 2008 Olympic handover ceremony and by partially pigmented glass fins added in 2010.

The structural grid is also expressed in the side and rear elevations, which though simpler, continue the asymmetrical rhythm of solids and voids that characterises the principal elevation.

The entrance foyer is the only part of the complex on the ground floor, with the rest being above the shopping centre. This determines the internal design, as the space dramatically expands on the upper floors. The architectural character throughout is derived from structural concrete, with staircases and escalators cutting through the space to create dramatic angles between the levels, some of which are pierced to enable the interpenetration of space. Open-cell suspended ceilings cover principal public spaces, with coffered concrete over stairways.

From the second floor upwards, the building's main volume is occupied by the concert hall, which rises through three main public levels from the third floor, with a void beneath at second floor level. Offices, dressing rooms and other facilities wrap around the volume of the hall from the second floor upwards.

The foyer block rises through five levels from the ground floor. The entrance foyer itself is a relatively small and low space, with a narrow staircase clinging to the south wall and other services, including a secondary staircase to the west, arranged around the perimeter. A slightly larger first floor restaurant area gives way to a space that fans out to reach its maximum extent on the second floor. The second and third floors are both essentially foyers, but the third floor gives the principal access to the auditorium, contains its own stage, and is the dominant interior space. To east and west, the ceiling is pierced by large voids giving dramatic higher spaces that rise through two storeys, leaving a smaller and more intimate space between the voids at fourth floor level. The greater height of the third floor is exploited in a full-height stained glass window comprising a series of angled panes dominating the eastern elevation behind the stage. It was designed by Hans Gottfried von Stockhausen and was presented to the city of Cardiff by the people of Stuttgart as a symbol of friendship between the two cities. It was unveiled in 1985 and depicts a representation of the Welsh landscape with cultural references including a rugby post.

The concert hall has an irregular hexagonal plan with seating fanning out from the stage and raked main floor in 13 blocks arranged in the 'vineyard style' of inter-linked tiers which are symmetrical about the central axis of the space. The lower tier wraps around the stage area to form choir seating. An open-cell suspended ceiling is arranged in a series of panels, its form having the effect of increasing the volume of the hall for acoustic purposes. The walls are plastered blockwork and the floor is timber. The spatial arrangement and detail all contribute to the acoustic properties of the hall, as the vertical steps of the seating tiers act as sound reflectors, and some of the seating has high reflective backs. The stage is flexible with hydraulically operated sections. The joinery is in pale wood; the green colour of the upholstery was part of the original design.

The concert organ by Peter Collins is housed in a wooden case designed by Ralph Downes. It is one of the largest pipe organs in the United Kingdom.

The entrance foyer includes several sculptures: Charles, Prince of Wales, by Ivor Robert Jones, in a niche above the foundation stone laid in 1979; Diana, Princess of Wales, by Robert Thomas, installed in 1989; and Ron Watkiss sculpted by Chris Kelly, installed in 1992.