After ten years of planning, fundraising, designing and building, phase one of the restoration of St David's Cathedral cloisters is now complete, and the new Refectory opened its doors last week.

The Refectory at St Davids finally allows the Dean and Chapter of St David's Cathedral to provide top-class hospitality to the 250,000 visitors and members of the congregation that pass through the Cathedral each year.

The Refectory forms part of one of the most ambitious restoration projects to take place in Wales in recent years.

Fitted into the medieval St Mary's Hall, the Refectory boasts modern features, including oak steps, stainless steel fittings and stained ash hand rails and finishings.

The most dramatic area of work is in the mezzanine level, which has been placed on slanting legs to keep it away from the walls.

This allows light down to the ground floor and prevents overloading the space, but has a sound structural basis - the 14th century St Mary's Hall has ancient stone vaults lying beneath it, and its strongest point is where the walls meet the floor.

The design is a direct response to the existing building fabric, while giving a space age look to the building.

The Cloisters project has cost £2.4 million, which has been funded by the Welsh European Funding Office, the Wales Tourist Board and the Garfield Weston Foundation, among many others.