Pierhead Building

The Pierhead Building, also briefly called The Pierhead, is a building in the Welsh capital city of Cardiff. It was built in 1897 in neo-Gothic style and now serves as one of the main sites of the National Assembly for Wales.

The listed building is a landmark of the city and is called because of its resemblance to the clock tower of the Palace of Westminster in London as " Welsh Big Ben".

Location

The Pierhead Building is situated on the Cardiff Bay, about 40 meters from the shores of the Bristol Channel removed. In the immediate vicinity are the Senedd, the Welsh Assembly building, the Wales Millennium Centre, the seat of the Welsh National Opera, and Tŷ Hywel, another site of the National Assembly.

History

The building was built in 1897 to plans by the Welsh architect William Frame ( 1848-1906 ) built, which had previously already involved in the renovation of Cardiff Castle and Castell Coch. It initially served as the headquarters of the railway company Bute Docks Company, which still renamed to Cardiff Railway Company in the year of construction. The facade is made of glazed terracotta red, which comes from the North Wales Ruabon, near Wrexham. Ruabon has long been famous as a stronghold of terracotta production.

On 1 March 2010, the Pierhead Building was opened as a museum on the history of the building and the National Assembly of the public; Furthermore, the building is also used as an event center. The first project for the reopening of the Pierhead Sessions were a series of events, discussions and lectures on various topics, which were held from the 4th to the 6th of March.