Work starts on 26-floor student block

WORK on one of the city’s biggest blocks of student flats has begun – and this one will have a 26th-floor sky bar.

The Eclipse will be built on what has been vacant land off Herbert Street, near Lloyd George Avenue.

It will have studios and two-person studios as well as facilities including a cinema, gym, private banqueting facilities and 26th-floor sky bar.

It is part of a development called the Capital Quarter.

There has been a boom in custom-built student flats across Cardiff with new facilities being built across the city.

This development will have 675 bedrooms spread over 26 floors.

ISG, which is the contractor for other city schemes, including the new BBC headquarters and Two Central Square, has now begun work. The contract is worth about £40m. The Eclipse development is designed by Corstorphine & Wright Architects.

The developer says it will “raise the bar for quality and specification in the buoyant student accommodation sector in Cardiff ”. It is being built near the University of South Wales and Cardiff University.

The project is due to be completed in summer 2019 in time for the new academic year.

The first phase is for the 26-storey concrete core to be built.

Using a new method, the process will take 20 weeks and will be one of the tallest structures to be formed in the UK using the method.

Jon James, ISG’s Construction West regional director, said: “Cardiff is an incredibly vibrant and highly regarded university destination for both a domestic and international student population. There is real demand for high-quality and high-specification student accommodation in the city, and Fusion Students has an extremely compelling offer.

“The Eclipse represents our latest scheme for Fusion Students and is set to become the benchmark for luxury student accommodation in Cardiff. This project and our development at Central Square are transformational for the built environment in Wales’ Capital city and I’m delighted that ISG is playing such a key role in this reinvigoration and reinvention of our city.”