Philharmonic Hall (Cardiff)

• Theatre ID
  68
• Built / Converted
  1877
• Dates of use
  • 1877: Until when not known.
• Current state
  Extant
• Current use
  Licensed premises (Pub)
• Address
  St Mary Street, Cardiff, South Glamorgan, Wales

Details

Cruelly altered but important example of a music hall of the rarest early concert-room type (cf Wilton’s of 1859; City Varieties, Leeds of 1865). The main façe with a triangular pediment over the three central bays is of particular importance as part of a group extending from the corner of Wood Street to the end of St Mary Street. The Philharmonic had a characteristic auditorium - a rectangular hall with a slightly raked main floor and originally with a balcony around three sides (the centre section later increased in depth to the rear). Permission was unfortunately given for the balcony slips to be altered in the 1980s and the centre balcony was again extended forward, both alterations being detrimental to the balance of the building. The balcony sides, supported on slender iron columns, had a serpentine configuration, having probably been divided originally by low partitions to form boxes. Balcony fronts of bombe section were enriched with foliated plaster work. The narrow proscenium was framed by well-modelled, coupled Corinthian demi-columns on pedestals. There was a shallow apron stage, cut back in the 1980s, by which time the back wall had been brought forward and the wings walled off. The side walls of the auditorium, above balcony level, were articulated by Corinthian pilasters. Flat ceiling originally divided into panels. Capacity, seated to modern standards, might be approximately 6-700. This theatre could have been a significant addition to the range of auditoria available to performing arts in Wales’s capital city. The foyer is still quite splendid but, so far as the original spirit of the hall itself is concerned, the most recent alterations have amounted to brutal murder. Nearly all significant traces of its architectural character have been destroyed or obscured. Restoration would require heroic effort and can now be regarded only as a remote possibility. The Philharmonic represents a dismal failure of the historic buildings control system due, it would appear, more to ignorance than to any lack of scope for compromise. Let it be a warning.

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• Other names
  Early Morrella’s Palace of Varieties, Philharmonic Theatre, Stoll’s Panopticon, Pavilion Picture Theatre, The Square (pub)
• Events
  • 1877 Use: Until when not known.
  • 1877 Design/Construction:
    • Jackson & Son (builder?) - Architect
  • 1997 Alteration: converted to pub
    • Inside Out Design Partnership - Architect
  • 1912 Owner/Management: by Moss Empires
  • 1952 Owner/Management: by Emery Cinema Circuit
  • 1997 Owner/Management: Greenalls
• Capacities
  • Later: 1952: 1100 1962: 1040
• Listings
  • Grade II
• Stage type
  • Proscenium Flat
• Dimensions
  • Stage dimensions: Depth: was 2.48m Width: was 7.35m
  • Proscenium width: 8.30m