Mount Stuart Square was the central point for the Bute Estate's planned developments of Butetown - it was originally designed as a residential square with a central garden.

With the ever-increasing growth of the Docks, the square was gradually rebuilt and became the commercial quarter, leaving the merchants and businessmen of the area to move their homes to the new suburbs of Cathedral Road and Roath.

The central garden was cleared in 1884 to make way for the building of the Coal Exchange. This is where the deals were made - vast quantities of coal and money were exchanged. The Coal Exchange was initially an ordinary market place but as fortunes grew the building was glorified to reflect its importance.

The Coal Exchange was the first building in the area to be built on piles, which were sunk into the ground to a depth of at least 9m. This was because the subsoils were alluvial mud mixed with slag from the old glassworks that had existed on this site, and when construction first started it was found to be a little like 'building on butter'.

The coal industry went into decline in the 1920s and 30s and never really recovered. Coal was nationalised in 1956 and the Coal Exchange finally closed - there was no longer any need to bargain for coal and the prices were fixed centrally by the National Coal Board.

Look out for Pascoe House, Baltic House, Cambrian House, Meandros House, Britannia Building, Merchant Place and HSCB Bank which use an array of building stone from all over the world.