Crown Buildings, Cathays Park Crown Buildings, Cathays Park The Crown Buildings (), which are also known as the Cathays Park Buildings, are the Welsh Government's main offices in Cardiff, Wales. The buildings were formerly used by the Welsh Office and are situated in Cathays Park. The complex consists of two buildings, Cathays Park 1 (a Grade II-listed building) and Cathays Park 2, joined by two skybridges. In 1914 foundations were laid for an imposing neoclassical building on this site housing Welsh Government Offices, to a design by R. J. Allison, architect to the Office of Works. Work soon stopped and did not resume for
Cathays Park 1927 part of the East range, with the lecture theatre funded by William Reardon Smith, was complete. Further extensions came only in the 1960s and '90s; these remained faithful to the original design on the exterior (and included sculpture by Dhruva Mistry) but are of a neutral character on the inside. Due to presence of the then Welsh Office building, by the 1990s 'Cathays Park' became a metonym for that Government Department. In addition to the large lawn in front of the City Hall, Cathays Park includes three formal gardens. All of the spaces are within conservation areas and many