A product of an architectural competition, the Visitor Centre was built in 1990 to the designs of Alsop, Lyall & Störmer (Will Alsop 1947–2018, John Lyall) at a cost of around £400,000. The first building to be built by the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation. One of the earliest steel/ply diaphragm structures. Quoted as having ‘single-handedly put Cardiff on the architectural map.’ The tube was originally planned as a temporary construction for a series of exhibitions about the Cardiff Bay development, but proved popular and stayed in situ until 2010 when it was dismantled and put into storage. 

RCAHMW. July 2021

Source

'Cardiff Bay Visitors Centre', AJ Buildings Library
Monica Cherry, Building Wales, p.46
Jonathan Vining and Malcolm Parry, Wales 1901-2000, p.30