Portland House

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. 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. Portland House was built in 1926-1927 for the National Provincial Bank. 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…

The bank was constructed with a steel frame set onto a base of reinforced concrete. The whole is faced with Portland stone. 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". The architectural historian John Newman, in his Glamorgan volume in the Pevsner Buildings of Wales series, wrote of the building's "extraordinary magniloquence". Cadw considers Portland House "amongst the finest of its style in Wales". It is a Grade II* listed building.