Historic Cardiff clock tower is working again after…

Historic Cardiff clock tower is working again after huge amount of money is spent on it

An historic four-sided clock tower in the centre of Cardiff is back chiming again after being restored to full working order. Having been in a state of disrepair for a number of years, with its hands stuck at ten past seven, the landmark clock tower at the grade II listed Hodge House has been painstakingly restored at a cost of £380,000 by the building’s owner, Legal & General.

The original manufacturer of the clock, Smith of Derby, undertook the restoration work as part of a project overseen by architects Stride Treglown.

Hodge House, which runs along St Mary Street with its main entrance on Guildhall Place, provides 110,000 sq ft of office space across its eight floors. It was constructed in 1915. The 32-week programme of work on its clock tower involved five separate crane lifts and using the largest mobile tower crane in the world to reach up and over the building. St Mary Street had to be closed on each occasion. You can get more Cardiff news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.

Project lead, Toni Riddiford, said: “The works comprised restoration of the clock dials and mechanism, reinstatement of the bell, structural repairs, cleaning of stonework and roof repairs.”

Helen Bartlett, managing director at Paramount, main contractor of the refurbishment at Hodge House, said: “The clock and its four faces were removed and sent to their original manufacturer – Smith of Derby – to overhaul the mechanism, restore and repaint the surface faces and regild the gold features. The white glass infill elements were also replaced.

“The tall bell was also removed for restoration and has now been replaced on a new metal structure for greater stability. The four face clock has been out of action for at least five years, frozen at ten past seven, but is now once again a prominent public timekeeper and city wayfinder.”

Since acquiring Hodge House in 2010, L&G has spent more than £17m on revamping the building. Simon Wilkes, head of development at Legal & General, said: “We knew from social media that there was a lot of local interest in the ‘clocks of Cardiff’ and, given the quality and extent of the refurbishment, it seemed wrong not to give the clock and the clock tower the same level of refurbishment."

The building’s refurbishment has included the reception, atrium and common areas. Since the refurb, it has attracted a stream of new tenants, including Ogi, Intelligent Ultrasound, Currencycloud, Bute Energy and Harrison Clark Rickerby. Lettings at Hodge House are being managed by property consultancy Knight Frank and Fletcher Morgan. Hodge House was constructed for the Co-operative Wholesale Society on what was the site of the Old Town Hall.

Following extensions, war damage repairs and the addition of two mansard storeys, it eventually became the headquarters of its namesake - Julian Hodge Bank. More recently it housed the Slaters Menswear retail store before the upper floors were converted completely to office accommodation.