Portland House, Cardiff

The area of Butetown was developed from the early 19th century by John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute, and by his son, the 3rd marquess. Together they constructed the docks which enabled the export of iron and coal from the South Wales Valleys.^[1] While the docks themselves were not especially profitable, the enormous increases in the tonnage of iron, steel and coal exported through them made the Butes immensely wealthy.^[2][a][b] Portland House was built in 1926-1927 for the National Provincial Bank.^[5] It stands on Bute Street to the east of Mount Stuart Square. The architects were F. C. R. Palmer and W. F. C. Holden, who formed the bank's in-house architectural team. The docks traffic was already in decline and Portland House was the last major commercial building to be constructed in Butetown.^[5]

After a period of near dereliction at the end of the 20th century, Portland House was converted into an events venue in the early 21st.^[6]

The bank was constructed with a steel frame set onto a base of reinforced concrete. The whole is faced with Portland stone.^[7] It is of seven bays and five storeys. The first two storeys form the main bank and are fronted by a row of "giant fluted Ionic columns".^[8] The architectural historian John Newman, in his Glamorgan volume in the Pevsner Buildings of Wales series, wrote of the building's "extraordinary magniloquence".^[8] Cadw considers Portland House "amongst the finest of its style in Wales".^[5] It is a Grade II* listed building.^[5]