Лондондық көмір биржасының тарихы

the coal exchange in London

Following its opening, coal owners, ship owners and their agents met daily on the floor of the trading hall where agreements were made by word of mouth and telephone. During the peak trading hour of midday to one o'clock, the floor might have as many as 200 men gesticulating and shouting. It was estimated that up to 10,000 people would pass in and out of the building each day. At one time the price of the world's coal was determined here. in 1904. The building interior was lavishly refurbished in 1912 by Edwin Seward, and reopened as the ‘New Exchange Building’. In 1915, an extension was added to the southern section, connected to the trading hall. In 1979 the Coal Exchange was earmarked as a future home of the proposed Welsh Assembly but the plan for devolution was rejected by the Welsh people in a referendum. In 1983 the building was considered as a headquarters for the Welsh language television station, S4C,

The Coal Exchange closed on 7 August 2013 as a result of building safety issues. With the subsequent liquidation of the company which owned it in 2014, ownership of the Coal Exchange passed to the Crown Estate. It then became the subject of efforts to preserve the historic fabric of the building by the not for profit organisation Save the Coal Exchange Limited. In February 2015, Welsh Government Economy Minister Edwina Hart commissioned a feasibility study into future re use of the building. In May 2015 it was confirmed that the exchange would be used for filming of the remake of The Crow. In 2016, filmmaker Nick Broomfield visited the building as part of his documentary Going Going Gone, which investigated the deterioration and heritage of the Coal Exchange.

In 2016 it was announced that the building was to be fully refurbished as a hotel by private company Signature Living, with a museum detailing the history of the building and of the Cardiff Docks. The proposal received some opposition, including from the Victorian Society and MP Stephen Doughty. Cardiff council granted planning permission in July 2016. In June 2017, the BBC broadcast a documentary entitled Saving The Coal Exchange, which looked at the development of the building into a hotel. As part of the phased restoration programme, rooms were opened as works were completed. The first 30 rooms of the hotel opened in May 2017. This was followed by a further 30 rooms in both June and September 2017, bringing the total to 50.

During the COVID 19 pandemic, the Liverpool based company Signature Living entered administration leaving the future of the building in limbo, During the summer of 2021, the Coal Exchange Hotel was saved by Cardiff based company Eden Grove Properties, the company saved 56 jobs and reopened the hotel during September 2020 with no affiliation to the former owners Signature Living. After just two weeks the hotel was forced to close again inline with the firebreak lockdown in Wales to help stop the spread of COVID 19. The hotel will reopen during 2021 and the new owners are in the latter stages of completing the legal documents with the relevant companies to commence work on the rear and underground section of the building with hopes to complete the building towards the end of 2021 start of 2022. Once fully completed the hotel will host 146 bedrooms, an on site restaurant and bar, spa, gym, learning zone, conference rooms and the Grand Hall wedding venue.

The building is constructed largely in limestone, in the French Renaissance style. The exterior is made of pale Corsham stone on three sides, with yellow brick on the western elevation. The roof is slate, topped with multiple chimneys mainly in yellow brick. Its style was derived from French Renaissance models. The main entrance front faces south. The building is made up of three storeys and basement, plus attic storeys in the central pedimented 'frontispiece', with a hipped pavilion roof. The entrance is guarded by a pair of fluted Corinthian columns, and topped by a floral relief in a triangular pediment surmounted by Royal Arms. On the north east corner, steps lead up to a projecting porch which housed Barclays Bank, resident here since building opened.