[1] The Gwalia Hotel was originally established on the north side of Ithon Road in around 1870.

[1] The new building was designed by Swash and Bain of Newport in the Baroque Revival style, built in red brick with stone dressings and was officially opened in 1900.

[3] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto the corner of Norton Terrace and Ithon Road.

[1] The hotel became a fashionable destination: visitors included the future Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, who stayed there in 1903, 1904 and again in 1905.

The local library, which had been based Beaufort Road, relocated into the building to collocate with the customer service point in 2014.