Bid to turn bank into restaurant and flats

PLANS to turn a former bank in Cardiff Bay into a restaurant and flats, including a penthouse, will be decided on Wednesday.

The former HSBC bank in Bute Street is a listed building.

The application is to turn it into a ground-floor restaurant with 16 apartments and a rooftop penthouse.

The flats are described as being “generous in size”.

The original scheme included a new-build development in James Street in the bank car park but that part of the scheme has now been removed. Instead that car park will be used for parking, cycle storage and bins.

The council report says that the building is “welcomed in principle as the development would revitalise a large long-term-vacant listed building with evidently little interest in uptake for its original office purpose”.

The main changes to the building would involve altering the roof to accommodate the penthouse. Planning officers say it would not impact any historic features of merit.

The penthouse would stretch along the roof of the bank but “well back” from the building.

The Victorian Society have said while they accept the principle of turning an empty building into a mixed use development they object because of the “high degree of unjustified harm” to the surrounding area.

They say that this building is one of the “very finest architectural manifestations of Cardiff’s 19th and early 20thcentury prosperity”.

They added: “Ninety-sevn to 100 Bute Street proudly and splendidly evokes the extraordinary wealth Cardiff enjoyed at the end of the 19th century.

“It is one of the city’s best historic commercial buildings, one that plays a major and defining role in the Mount Stuart Square Conservation Area.

“Implementation of this scheme – particularly the roof extension – would have a harmful and unjustified impact on the fabric and setting of both designated heritage assets.

“Unless the application is reworked and amended in accordance with our advice then we object and urge you to refuse it consent.”

The Glamorgan and Gwent Archaeological Trust do not object to the application but ask for a survey to be completed before work begins.

The developer, Coal and Brick Limited, has said they plan to begin work within a year and have asked for the standard five-year timeframe for work to begin to be reduced to 18 months.

The planning committee are asked to approve the scheme.