DisgrifiadLarge buildings of four storeys with basement and attic on the corner of Mount Stuart Square and West Bute Street, the Cambrian / Cymric Buildings were built on the site of the Bute Town National School between 1907 and 1911 by the architect Henry Budgen of Cardiff.
The building's names are displayed on arches surrounding a tripartite window above the doorways ? Cambrian Buildings to Mount Stuart Square, Cymric Buildings to West Bute Square. The Cambrian face of the building is of five bays with the entrance in the central third bay, flanked by pilasters topped with Ionic-style capitals containing nautical designs including ships, anchors, and chains. Above the entrance is a three?-storey shallow bow. The windows in the first, second, third, and fourth storeys are tripartite, those in the first story under shallow arches with exaggerated keystones. Defining the bays in the first, second, and third stories are pilasters with Ionic-style capitals, also with nautical themes, such as dolphins, sea monsters, and other aquatic animals, with symbols of trade and dolphins near their base. The end and central bays are topped with pediments. The Cymric face is similar in style but of eight bays with the entrance and bow in the fifth bay and pediments topping the first, fourth, fifth, and eighth bays.
(Sources: Victorian Society Tour Notes, NMR MS VS01/16; Cadw Listed Buildings Database)
A.N. Coward, RCAHMW, 30.05.2018