Grand plans to revive rundown Bay building
STANDING next to the vast and impressive Cory Building on Bute Street in Cardiff Bay, this smaller three-storey building might look like the lesser brother to its impressive sibling but it can certainly contribute to the history and the stunning architecture of the area.
Called Custom House, it can also hold its own when it comes to fancy and impressive detailing in proportion to its size – this building oozes features to discover and admire even though it has been empty for more than 25 years.
The property might have been abandoned but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been adored by anyone who regularly passes it and takes the time to notice it. The Portland Stone facade, intricate carvings and fancy iron gates combine to offer a very attractive and historic addition to the street scene.
The building was Grade II listed in 1992 for being “a well-proportioned classical building by an important public architect, and for its group value”.
That important architect was Henry Tanner, who later became a Sir, and was the chief architect to the Office of Works. Tanner is also responsible for other beautiful and distinctive designs in the city, including the Post Office building in Westgate Street.
The building was constructed in 1898 on the site of the former gardens to the Dock Chambers building further down the street as an immigration office, and once had multiple offices inside including the main inquiry room on the first floor.
Its classical facade includes stone urns on the rooftop, doric columns, stone chimney stacks and panelled swagged ornamental carvings; how could you not be impressed, even in its rundown state?
An arrival at the building offers you a grand welcome, if you can look past the boarded windows and doors and the toll the years of standing empty have taken on the property.
But the grandeur is still there to delight with the fancy wrought-iron entrance gate coupled with the intricate stone facade in particular surely creating a mighty first impression when the building was operational.
Inside, each level can excite you with some original features still in place or an atmosphere thick with past activities and future potential.
Roam around and you will see blasts from the past still in place like pink granite doric columns, a sweeping staircase with intricate wroughtiron banister detailing, a period fireplace with a vintage oven nestled inside it, and high ceilings, some with sunken panels and some with glazing between simple moulded beams.
The building has stood silently on the street for decades, within the heart of the Mount Stuart Square Conservation Area, waiting for a new purpose to its life.
There was a flicker of life when it had a taste of being famous, starring in a scene in the Sky drama The Lazarus Project, which began airing on Sky Max on June 15, 2002. The building featured in episode one as a shady, abandoned place for two central characters to meet.
Now the building is sliding further into decline even though it is now secure and under surveillance. But maybe now is the time when the site can look to a long-term future and find hope that it is soon to be restored, as it is now owned by development company PropertyIndex.
This Cardiff-based company can be found in the huge and impressive Portland House that dominates the street opposite Custom House. That treasure of the area is also owned by PropertyIndex who have developed it into offices and a basement nightclub.
No nightclubbing plans for Custom House, but the company has submitted plans to Cardiff council for the restoration and renovation of this Grade II listed beauty to become nine luxury apartments. The company bought the building in March 2021.
The planning application states there have been several attempts by previous building owners to bring forward a scheme for development for re-purposing the buildings, via a variety of conversion and refurbish
ment options, including a hotel. Some of these have gained planning approvals in the past and even progressed to the stage of marketing the scheme, but none became reality.
Director Chris Spiteri explains why the company was so keen to buy Custom House. He says: “So we’re based across the road in Portland House and it was an opportunity where we can have a development where it is easy to manage because we’re so close by. We’ve already invested in the area anyway so we knew the owners of it previously so were able to do a private deal with them.”
If approved, the plans would see the building transformed via a whole restoration and renovation scheme into nine, self-contained apartments comprising a mixture of one, two and three-bedroom homes, some with mezzanine levels. Seven units are proposed through internal alterations within the existing building, with one unit in the new front-roof extension, and one in the new rear roof extension.
Chris says: “Basically we want to put nine luxury apartments in here, we don’t want to change too much. I know obviously a lot has to be done but we don’t want to change too much. We want to use the characteristics of the building and utilise the staircase, and everything it has to offer because that’s what the building is.”
Director Emma Ballson, whose remit is focused on interior design, offers a flavour of the interiors to come should the company achieve planning consent. She says: “Traditional blended with contemporary, a bit of art deco in certain areas. It’s really important we keep some of the materials we can keep because they’re amazing. Why wouldn’t you?”