The Coal Exchange | |
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Y Gyfnewidfa Lo | |
Former names | The Coal and Shipping Exchange |
Alternative names | The Exchange Hotel |
General information | |
Architectural style | French Renaissance |
Town or city | Cardiff |
Country | Wales |
Coordinates | 51°27′56″N 3°10′06″W / 51.46544°N 3.1682°W |
Construction started | 1884 |
Completed | 1888 |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Seward & Thomas |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
Official name | Cardiff Exchange Building |
Designated | 19 May 1975 |
Reference no. | 13744[1] |
The Coal Exchange (also known as the Exchange Building) is a historic building in Cardiff, Wales. It is designed in Renaissance Revival style. Built in 1888 as the Coal and Shipping Exchange to be used as a market floor and office building for trading in coal in Cardiff, it later became a hub of the global coal trade. It is situated in Mount Stuart Square in Butetown, and was for many years the hub of the city's prosperous shipping industry.
It later became a music venue, with offices remaining in use in the West Wing, before being closed indefinitely in 2013 due to building safety issues. Following a series of proposals to demolish the building, Cardiff Council purchased the Coal Exchange. In 2016 the property was sold to the Liverpool-based hospitality company Signature Living, which began a programme of restoration and conversion of the building into a hotel.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Liverpool-based company Signature Living entered administration leaving the future of the building in limbo. During the summer of 2020, the Coal Exchange Hotel was saved by Cardiff-based company Eden Grove Properties, the company saved 56 jobs and reopened the hotel during September 2020 with no affiliation to the former owners Signature Living. After just two weeks the hotel was forced to close again inline with the firebreak lockdown in Wales to help stop the spread of COVID-19. The hotel will reopen during 2021 and the new owners are in the latter stages of completing the legal documents with the relevant companies to commence work on the rear and underground section of the building with hopes to complete the building. Once fully completed the hotel will host 146 bedrooms, an on-site restaurant and bar, spa, gym, learning zone, conference rooms and the Grand Hall wedding venue.