Cardiff: Archdiocese opens community, arts centre in historic former chapel

Archbishop George Stack

Cardiff's newest community and arts centre: Cornerstone, has opened its doors for the first time after a major two-year restoration project in the heart of the Welsh capital. The former Grade II listed Ebeneser Chapel on Charles Street has been transformed into a new venue for the city by the Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff, who purchased the chapel in 2012 and secured a £1.2 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to restore the building and create a new mixed-use venue in Cardiff city centre.

Cornerstone is a multi-purpose centre which can accommodate events of all sizes from community groups and productions, to business meetings, conferences and weddings. The centre is designed to be a meeting place for the community and a hub for heritage learning in the capital.

The building now has two main event spaces - the Great Hall Dewi Saint, with an impressive high-vaulted ceiling, can seat 140 people or 220 theatre style, and the Jane Hodge Room, which holds up to 200 people features the chapel's original stained glass windows and gallery space. There are additional meeting rooms and community spaces with accessible kitchens for smaller events. A café, managed by award-winning Spiros Fine Dining Caterers, will open inside Cornerstone in coming weeks. Featuring a selection of teas, coffees, breakfasts and seasonal dishes, the cafe will be open to the public through Cornerstone's gardens to the back of the building.

Christian Brown, project manager of Cornerstone, said: "We are excited to finally unveil Cornerstone to the public. We'd like to thank everyone involved in transforming the former Ebeneser Chapel into this vibrant new hub for the community.

"The restoration is stunning, creating a fresh and modern venue from such a beautiful historic building, whilst retaining many of the original features that make it so special.

"Cornerstone is now a spectacular backdrop for a wedding celebration, a flexible and unique venue for a business event, and a bright and modern space for community groups and productions. From the start, we wanted to create something for the whole community and we are delighted to have achieved that."

Cornerstone's first event was a dinner and concert for 120 people with Welsh soprano Rebecca Evans and Only Men Aloud's Tim Rhys-Evans.

Christian added: "We were thrilled to have someone of Rebecca and Tim's calibre perform at our first ever event at Cornerstone. It was a fitting opening for this fantastic venue and a taste of the great things to come. It was an impressive turnout and we are very happy to see that people have taken Cornerstone to their hearts so quickly."

Read more about the Centre here: http://rcadc.org/cornerstone-cardiff/