The first was to provide a home for the King Edward VII Welsh National Memorial Association, a voluntary organisation dedicated to the prevention, treatment and eradication of tuberculosis, which Davies had founded in 1910.

[6] In founding the Temple, Davies intended to combine the goals of peace and health and to express these ideals in the architectural design of the building.

The building opened on 23 November 1938, with a ceremony that featured Minnie James of Dowlais, who lost three of her sons in World War I.

[8][9] In 2018, Cardiff University bought the Temple of Peace from Public Health Wales, although the Welsh Centre for International Affairs remains as leaseholder of part of the building.

Situated on the ground floor and facing the main entrance, it is lined with dove-grey marble to symbolise the emblem of peace.

[11] The building has also been used as a filming location for other television shows, including the 2010 Sherlock episode "The Blind Banker" and His Dark Materials.