St David's Hall

St David's Hall
Logo of St David's Hall
St David's Hall by night, in 2014, showing the remodelled façade and the base of Cardiff's BBC Big Screen.
Location within Cardiff city centre
General information
Type Concert Hall
Architectural style Brutalist
Address The Hayes, Cardiff, CF10 1AH
Country Wales, United Kingdom
Coordinates 51°28′49″N 03°10′36″W / 51.48028°N 3.17667°W
Construction started 1977[1]
Completed 1982[1]
Inaugurated 30 August 1982
Cost £12m[2]
Client City of Cardiff
Owner Cardiff County Council
Design and construction
Architecture firm Seymour Harris Partnership[2]
Structural engineer Ove Arup and Partners[2]
Main contractor Laing Construction[2]
Website
stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk

St David's Hall (Welsh: Neuadd Dewi Sant) is a performing arts and conference venue in the heart of Cardiff city centre, Wales.

St David's Hall is the National Concert Hall and Conference Centre of Wales. It hosts the annual Welsh Proms, the International Orchestral Series and the biennial BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. As well as classical music it also plays host to jazz, soul, pop, rock, dance, children's, r&b, musicals and other forms of world music, as well as light entertainment artists like Joan Collins. The foyers in the centre are open and have regular free performances from music groups. The foyers, balconies and bar areas are also used to host art exhibitions. It also has its own restaurant.

History

St David's Hall in 2007.

Built in 1982 the Hall proved to be a tricky and remarkable building. Architects Seymour Harris Partnership had the task of fitting a major 2000 seat, acoustically perfect auditorium, with surrounding dressing rooms, bars, foyers, a restaurant, offices and spacious concourse into a cramped city centre space. The space available was so cramped that they had to fit the complex into and on top of an already planned and partly built St. David's Shopping Centre. As a result they had to use every inch of space available and the building has an unusual shape. The Hall has proved to be a success, as since it opened on 30 August 1982 (on that first day 21,000 people flooded through the doors) it has attracted high profile world famous performers from all over the globe and also earned itself a reputation as one of the premier concert and conference venues in Europe and the world. It held its first concert on 11 September 1982.[3] It was officially opened over 5 months after the first concert in 15 February 1983 by the Queen Mother.[4] BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales (the BBC NOW) is the orchestra-in-residence at St David's Hall, holding regular concerts with reasonably priced tickets to try to attract families who perhaps would not normally consider going to a classical concert. The Hall's acoustics are highly rated for unamplified orchestral music, while a new sound system installed in 2005 has solved previous problems with amplified sound.

Present day

Cardiff University graduation ceremony held at St David's Hall

Major events held at the Hall include the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition held every two years and the Welsh Proms held annually. Prizes for the Welsh Artist of the Year are awarded at the venue every June, followed by an exhibition of the winners and shortlisted works.[5]

There were fears that St David's Hall would be hit by the opening of the grander and more spectacular Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay; these fears have been partly realised. The Wales Millennium Centre has added significantly to the arts and cultural scene already present in the city of Cardiff. The angular grey concrete that makes up nearly the whole visible exterior and some interior foyers looks unmistakably 1970s/1980s modernist new build; the architectural magazine Building Design described the hall's style as "complex late brutalism".[6] Audiences have remained constant at the Hall but political favour and the Wales Millennium Centre's national subsidy has made it a challenge for the Hall to compete. St David's Hall is continually developing its variety of shows, and has recently re-branded the L3 Lounge venue, which has a partly seated capacity of 350 and is mainly used for daytime concerts, the Roots Unearthed folk series and more recently Blas* – A Taste of the Fresh Welsh Sound.

St David's Hall is owned, managed and funded by Cardiff Council. It has an education and community department called 'A2: Arts active: Education, Community and Audience Engagement at St David's Hall and the New Theatre (Cardiff)' which mounts various schools and arts outreach projects.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "St David's Hall: A Brief History". Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Reeves, Robin (12 October 1982). "Companies and Markets: St David's Hall Cardiff". Financial Times (London, England).
  3. ↑ The first concert held in St David's Hall
  4. ↑ Official opening day of St David's Hall
  5. ↑ "Welsh Artist of Year: Fleece painter Paul Emmanuel", BBC News, 6 June 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  6. ↑ Hatherley, Owen (6 November 2009). "Cardiff: Baudrillard at the Eisteddfod". bdonline.co.uk. Building Design. Retrieved 22 October 2014.

External links

Coordinates: 51°28′49″N 3°10′36″W / 51.48028°N 3.17667°W