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100 Facts - Main Building Today

100 Facts

  1. The Science Library is today home to approximately 37,000 loanable books, more than 1.2km of book shelves, and more than 1.5km of journals shelving.
  2. The Library also has 106 PCs across three IT rooms and more than 180 study spaces, 90% of which have wireless access.
  3. The Council Chamber is decorated with portraits of previous Vice-Chancellors. One of the most recent additions is a portrait of Sir Brian Smith, Vice-Chancellor from 1993 to 2001, painted by Keith Breeden, one of Wales’ most successful portrait painters.
  4. It is said that on the night before he died, Bill Bevan CBE – Principal of the University College from 1966-1987 – made an unannounced visit to Main Building where a porter unlocked the Council Chamber and, for the first and last time, Bill saw his portrait hanging in the room which it continues to dominate.
  5. Main Building today houses a number of Schools and Departments, including the School of Chemistry, the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, part of the School of Biosciences, and the Vice-Chancellor’s Office.
  6. Main Building is currently home to two Nobel Laureates – Professor Sir Martin Evans (School of Biosciences) and Professor Robert Huber (School of Chemistry).
  7. Main Building is also currently home to two Fellows of the Royal Society – Professor Graham Hutchings (School of Chemistry) and Professor Dianne Edwards (School of Earth and Ocean Sciences). This is the highest accolade a scientist can receive, next to the Nobel Prize.
  8. Although staff and students in the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences are based in Main Building, they get the opportunity to venture further afield on Guiding Light, the School’s own research vessel.
  9. The Schools today based in Main Building are all older than the building they call home. Chemistry and Biology have been taught at Cardiff since its inception in 1883 and the department of Geology dates its origins back to 1891.
  10. Main Building was illuminated with a special anniversary message to mark the beginning of the University’s 125th anniversary celebrations in 2008.
  11. During the 125th anniversary year, Main Building hosted a number of celebratory events, including a special garden party for all members of staff.
  12. Main Building is a popular location for film crews. One particularly dramatic transformation turned the rear of the building into Smithfield Market for the location filming of ‘Drovers’ Gold’, a six-part BBC period drama which aired in 1997. The shoot saw the car park filled cattle, sheep and actors in period costumes.
    13. Graduation

    Graduation

  13. In 2000, Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh spent a day at the University. As the Royal limousine arrived at the horseshoe drive in front of Main Building, it was greeted by a gathering of staff and parents and children from the University crèche who waved miniature Welsh flags and applauded.
  14. In keeping with the University’s Fairtrade status (awarded in 2007), the Coffee Shop and Restaurant in Main Building both serve a range of Fairtrade drinks and snacks.
  15. Visitors to Main Building in 1998 may have been surprised to see a squad of riot police taking advantage of an empty car park to practice their drilling. The squad were in attendance when the University hosted a European summit.
  16. Six of the University’s buildings were included in the extensive security operations relating to European summit. Main Building was the location of a BBC World Service debate between Douglas Henderson, the UK’s Minister for Europe; Dr Wolfgang Schussel, the Austrian Vice-Chancellor; and the Greek Foreign Minister, Georges Papandreas.
  17. In 1997 a pair of ravens took up residence above the statue of St David, high over the entrance to Main Building. They had to fly their previous nest on City Hall, having been driven out by hostile peregrine falcons.
  18. Main Building’s Wallace Lecture Theatre is named after Alfred Russel Wallace, a scientist best known for his role in the development of the theory of evolution by natural selection – coming up with the theory independently of Charles Darwin.
  19. Carols around the Christmas tree in the John Viriamu Jones Gallery has become an annual festive event at the University.
  20. The Cardiff Scientific Society, founded in 1926, still holds public meetings and lectures in Main Building’s large Shandon Lecture Theatre.