South Building, The Queen's Buildings, Cardiff University

Cadw's description

Location

On the north side of Newport Road. The southernmost of the Queen’s Buildings, an agglomeration of interconnected University buildings between West Grove and the railway line north of Queen Street.

History

University building with Gothic central tower and east wing built from 1915 by E.M. Bruce Vaughan, Modernist west wing added by Percy Thomas in 1964, with tower largely rebuilt with retained façade at this time.

At its foundation in 1884 the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire was based in the old premises of the Glamorganshire and Monmouthshire Infirmary, then in the process of moving to its new building further east and across Newport Road (see Cardiff Royal Infirmary, Listed Building 18639). The college began to relocate to its own new building in Cathays Park in the 1900s and EM Bruce Vaughan drew up an ambitious plan to redevelop the Newport Road site as a Welsh National School of Medicine, in a four-storey quadrangle with a massive central tower with lantern on Newport Road. This tower (apart from the lantern) and the adjoining Department of Physiology were largely complete at the time of Bruce Vaughan’s death in 1919. The building was officially opened by the Prince of Wales in 1921. At the same time JB Fletcher began building the Department of Preventative Medicine on The Parade as the northeast corner of the planned quadrangle in a style faithful to Bruce Vaughan’s aging scheme, one of the last Gothic Revival designs to be built in Cardiff, the rest of which remains unrealised.

The late Georgian infirmary building immediately west of the tower remained in use by the University College until it was demolished in 1960 to clear the way for Sir Percy Thomas & Son’s new wing completed in 1964, known until the late 1980s as the New Engineering Building (housing the School of Engineering). The tower was largely rebuilt but retained its façade.

In 1984 the renamed University College Cardiff began talks with the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology about developing a joint faculty of engineering on Newport Road. The two institutions merged in 1988 and from 1987 to 1993 four large new buildings were added connecting Vaughan and Fletcher’s buildings (as well as the 1960 Department of Mining) into a single agglomerated mega-structure known as the Queen’s Buildings. The Tower and its two earlier wings are now referred to as the South Building and are conjoined with the East, West and Central buildings, the latter to the rear of the tower.

Exterior

A Perpendicular style 5-storey tower with a lower 7-bay block in collegiate Gothic style on its right side and 27-bay Modernist style block on its left, both 4-storey plus basement. The tower is Bath stone ashlar, its openings recessed between big clasping buttresses and superimposed by a moulded 2-centre arch. The arch spandrels have diamond panels with 'AD 1915' in relief, then a moulded cornice below the parapet, which has 4 narrow arched openings but is otherwise plain, with moulded saddleback coping. The buttresses have 2-tier caps with polygonal shafts at the angles and relief foliage. The main arch has label stops in the form of square panels set into the buttresses, the foliage in shallow relief. In the lower storey the buttresses have foundation tablets facing the entrance steps. Side tablets commemorate the laying of the foundation stone by Lord Pontypridd in 1915 and opening of the building by Edward, Prince of Wales in 1921, with stone reliefs of an angel holding a book over the shield of Glamorgan and mottos in Latin (‘Juvat intecros aggedere fontes’) and Welsh (‘Nerth gwlad ei gwybodau’).

The ground-floor openings are recessed behind a 3-bay entrance portal composed of elliptical arches with blind ogee gables and carved diamond finials, and 2 freestanding round columns which have capitals with Greek relief inscriptions and carry statues of Asclepius (left) and Hippocrates (right) in canopied niches, while the outer responds are polygonal with foliage capitals. Above the arches are sculpted busts of C19 physicians (Pasteur, Lister, Hunter, Jenner) in the outer bays and heraldic shields of Wales and Glamorgan to the centre. The central doorway has double doors with vertical ribs, iron strap hinges and relief-moulded foliage to the top. The mullioned overlight has an elliptical arch. The doorway is flanked by windows with 2 round-headed mullioned lights under an elliptical head. Reached up stone steps from the street, which have brick parapet walls curving out to terminal ashlar piers. Above the entrance portal the elevation has 3-light mullioned windows flanked by similar 2-lights windows, and framed by clustered intermediate shafts with gabled offset in the third storey. Between storeys are rich broad bands of relief foliage incorporating blank oval tablets and shields. The 2nd and 3rd storeys have flat-headed windows, while the 4th storey has windows with arched lights. In the 5th storey are pointed windows but with blind Decorated tracery lights enriched by foliage in relief and blank shields. The spandrels are decorated with similar relief foliage. Sides of the upper portion of the tower clad in brick with narrow vertical openings at parapet level to left side and rear.

The asymmetrical teaching block on the right has a full-height ashlar double canted bay right of centre. Of brick with Ham stone dressings and slate roof behind a plain ashlar parapet, except the canted bay which has an openwork parapet. A rich freestone cornice of relief foliage has sculpted animals over rainwater heads. An ashlar band is between ground and 2nd storeys. Three-light mullioned windows to the 4 storeys and basement predominate, with arched lights in the upper storey. The canted bay has pairs of 2-light mullioned windows in each storey, also under arched heads in the upper storey. The bay is flanked by shallow buttresses which have blind panelling in the 2nd storey beneath gablets. The block adjoins the East Building added 1987-93.

On the left side of the tower is the Modernist wing added in 1964 when the tower was rebuilt behind the facade. The wing is 4 storeys and basement with flat roof, with sunken court with side glazing and two rooflights within upper storey. Constructed by means of a reinforced concrete frame with closely spaced full-height columns continuing the lively vertical emphasis of the tower, with glazed and fluted steel-panel infill. Glazed basement level recessed behind colonnade of ten cylindrical columns (a pair per three bays to the rectangle above). Portland stone clad blind west gable now partly obscured by the adjoining West Building. Rear of 1964 block is seven bays with a return on the far left now infilled by the West Building with changes to part of ground floor including brick cladding and port-hole windows. Otherwise retains ribbon windows and steel panels with three lights to each bay except for two lights to far right. Vehicle loading bay with cantilevered canopy.

Interior

The interior of the tower was reworked in 1964 by Sir Percy Thomas, whose name is engraved in the marble wall panels. The ground floor windows retain original stained glass with heraldic shields, and roundels in the tracery lights dated 1915 and 1918. Bilingual plaques on ground floor unveiled by Nicholas Edwards commemorate the 1983 centenary of the University College, another pair further up the Tower stairs commemorate the opening of the completed Queen’s Buildings by Elizabeth II in 1993. The teaching block to the R retains an original spine corridor that has fielded wood panelling to the walls, above which are keyed oculi. At the E end of the corridor is an open-well stair with plain balusters and hand rail, with further staied glass to the now built over rear doors. On this stairway large timber panels record the Presidents of the South Wales Institute of Engineers, and a relocated stone with heraldic shield incorporated into concrete banister, its inscription appears to have been tampered with and now reads ‘dew ein hymddiffynfa’. Modernist wing contains workshops, lecture theatres and large open plan offices and study spaces.

Reason for designation

The South Building is of special interest and Listed at Grade II for high architectural interest as a prominently-sited Gothic Revival tower-facade retaining high-quality sculpture. 1921 range attached to right and 1964 range to left are integral to the main tower structurally and designed in sympathy with it by the lights of their different periods. Illustrative of the historic ambitions and development of higher education in Cardiff particularly regarding medicine and engineering. Group value with other listed University buildings especially the North Building (former Department of Medicine and Department of Mines). The adjoining East, West and Central Buildings and Joint Use Workshops are not of special interest.