Craft in the Bay

The Craft in the Bay Gallery is an exhibition and craft retail area located at the south end of Lloyd George Avenue, Cardiff Bay. It is operated by a charitable arts organisation, The Makers Guild in Wales. The gallery is opposite the Wales Millennium Centre and close to the Welsh Assembly Building. The building consists of the relocated and refurbished Grade II listed “D” Shed, previously an industrial warehouse located next to Bute East Dock.

The "D" Shed is a cast-iron framed structure with cruciform columns, a roof structure and a variety of similarly unique features. The structure is five 20 foot bays long and two 20 foot bays wide. It was erected as a transit warehouse and appeared on the first edition Ordnance Survey map from surveys carried out in the 1870s. Originally sited alongside Bute East Dock Basin it was also served by rail. The “D Shed” has a Grade II listing and is one of only a few mid-nineteenth century buildings in Cardiff Bay. It has wholly cast cruciform columns and the eaves beams have been constructed out of simple available riveted sections. The cast iron used in the eave beams is stamped 'Rhymney' so it is assumed manufacture was in the Rhymney Ironworks. The roof truss design includes a bent bottom member and cast iron stays.

Before it was refurbished, the building was used as a garage workshop. Work started in late 2001 to transform it, with an estimated total cost of £1.26 million. Funding came from the European Regional Development Fund, Heritage Lottery Fund and the Arts Council of Wales. In 2002 the building was dismantled and removed from its original site next to Bute East Dock. It was reassembled in its new location, together with a modern extension. The refurbished building won a British Archaeological Award.

The finished building is sheer-glazed on two sides to provide views into the exhibition space. The extension was designed as a contrasting element and accommodates demonstration studios, meeting space, office and a café with a dramatic pointed roof projecting over an outside seating space.

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