Crown Buildings, Cathays Park

The Crown Buildings, which are also known as the Cathays Park Buildings, are the Welsh Government's main offices in Cardiff, Wales. The buildings were formerly used by the Welsh Office and are situated in Cathays Park. The complex consists of two buildings, Cathays Park 1 and Cathays Park 2, joined by two skybridges. In 1914 foundations were laid for an imposing neoclassical building on this site housing Welsh Government Offices, to a design by R. J. Allison, architect to the Office of Works. Work soon stopped and did not resume for twenty years. In 1934–8, the block now known as Cathays Park 1 was built by P. E. Hanton, as offices for the Welsh Board of Health. It is a three-storey building in the Stripped Classical style, with 3599m2 of floorspace. It also has an attic and a basement. Cathays Park 2 is a five-storey office building with 34305m2 of floorspace, including an underground car park and a central atrium housing a cafe for the office staff. The Encyclopaedia of Wales describes CP2, completed in 1979, as conveying an impression of "bureaucracy under siege". The historian John Davies, however, regarded the complex as being "splendid".

The Crown Buildings, which are also known as the Cathays Park Buildings, are the Welsh Government's main offices in Cardiff, Wales. The buildings were formerly used by the Welsh Office and are situated in Cathays Park. The complex consists of two buildings, Cathays Park 1 and Cathays Park 2, joined by two skybridges. In 1914 foundations were laid for an imposing neoclassical building on this site housing Welsh Government Offices, to a design by R. J. Allison, architect to the Office of Works. Work soon stopped and did not resume for twenty years. In 1934–8, the block now known as Cathays Park 1 was built by P. E. Hanton, as offices for the Welsh Board of Health. It is a three-storey building in the Stripped Classical style, with 3599m2 of floorspace. It also has an attic and a basement. Cathays Park 2 is a five-storey office building with 34305m2 of floorspace, including an underground car park and a central atrium housing a cafe for the office staff. The Encyclopaedia of Wales describes CP2, completed in 1979, as conveying an impression of "bureaucracy under siege". The historian John Davies, however, regarded the complex as being "splendid".