Coal Exchange

The Coal Exchange
Y Gyfnewidfa Lo
Location within Cardiff
Former names	The Coal and Shipping Exchange
Alternative names	The Exchange Hotel
General information
Architectural style	French Renaissance
Town or city	Cardiff
Country	Wales, United Kingdom
Coordinates	51°27′56″N 3°10′06″W / 51.46544°N 3.1682°W / 51.46544; -3.1682Coordinates: 51°27′56″N 3°10′06″W / 51.46544°N 3.1682°W / 51.46544; -3.1682
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official name	Cardiff Exchange Building
Designated	19th May 1975
Reference no.	13744
Construction started	1884
Completed	1888
Design and construction
Architect	Seward & Thomas

51°27′56″N 3°10′06″W / 51.46544°N 3.1682°W / 51.46544; -3.1682Coordinates: 51°27′56″N 3°10′06″W / 51.46544°N 3.1682°W / 51.46544; -3.1682

The Coal Exchange first opened as the Coal and Shipping Exchange was a market floor for trading in coal in Cardiff, Wales. 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, and in 2016 it was announced that the building was to be fully refurbished as a hotel, with a museum detailing the history of the building and of the Cardiff Docks.

Before the Coal Exchange was built in Mount Stuart Square, the area was a residential square with a central garden. It was taken over by commerce as the city grew in prosperity. Coal merchants used to chalk up the changing prices of coal on slates outside their offices or struck deals in the local public houses.

As Cardiff became the biggest coal port in the world, the building was constructed between 1884 and 1888 by Edwin Seward as a base from which to conduct trade negotiations regarding the coal mines of the South Wales Valleys - most of which was shipped to Cardiff for distribution.