After three decades of being empty, Cardiff Bay's historic Cory's Building has reopened as the new teaching building for Cardiff Sixth Form College. The building, built in 1889, has been skilfully combined with the neighbouring Merchant Place and brought back to life, with students now attending classes inside.
New home for students
The buildings, on the corner of Bute Street and Bute Place, are now home to hundreds of students, many from overseas. The majority are from Hong Kong or China, but the college has a scholarship programme and 80 Welsh students.
Routinely recognised for its academic results, the college now also has a custom-built accommodation block. That 17-storey building, known as the boarding house, is on Pierhead Street and has its own gym, cinema room and basketball court.
Expansion and impact
The expansion has increased the college's roll, with 405 students currently studying, although the building has a maximum capacity of 500. Students are already making a marked difference to Cardiff Bay, walking between the new accommodation block near the Senedd and the teaching block.
Principal Tom Arrand said he hopes the students will bring an economic benefit to the wider Bay area, with businesses already seeing a boom with their new captive market of students on their doorsteps. In an era where many independent schools are facing pressures or closure, they see their growth as a sign of confidence in their teaching model.
History preserved
Tucked away in the design are pieces of history. In one classroom, the original safe from the Cory's Building remains, in another, a window shows the original lift mechanisms. Outside, an 1881 fireplace remains set into the garden wall.
The students, he said, "love" being in the Bay. "We have got the home of democracy, the Senedd, the home of culture, in the Millennium Centre, and the home of education with the leading independent school in the UK, in terms of our academic results," Mr Arrand said. "When I am showing prospective parents around, I don't just show the inside of the school, but we take a walk to Mermaid Quay, to the Pierhead, and the Wales Millennium Centre and it's an asset to the school."
For parents, the appeal is not only the custom-designed buildings, but also how safe the area feels, he said. The new facilities are considerably bigger, allowing a large auditorium with views over the Bay, plus a bigger dining room, where they offer two lunch sittings, serving 200 students and 50 staff in each, in 13 minute windows. Things like food waste output are monitored to encourage sustainability.
Cory's was built for the influential firm Cory Brothers & Co, whose extensive business interests spanned chandlery, brokerage, colliery and wagon ownership, and coal exporting. Merchant Place was originally housing offices for merchants, shipowners, and coal exporters who did business in what was then one of the busiest ports in the world.
