Thoroughly modern offices now a blank canvas for the ‘new normal’
It’s one of the most ambitious development schemes ever seen in Wales, but what is happening to the Central Quay project at the former Brains brewery site in the centre of Cardiff?
The waterfront scheme, which could extend to about 14 acres, is the latest project from Cardiff-based and family-owned property development firm Rightacres Property.
Over the long term Central Quay could see about 2.5 million sq ft of new office space, private residential apartments, restaurants and bars built.
With SA Brain & Co having relocated its office and brewing operation to Cardiff Bay, work is continuing on demolishing the site and preparing it for development.
A number of projects already have detailed planning consent, with the 160,000 sq ft Ledger building, a multi-storey car park and the redevelopment of the listed Brewhouse building.
The first project will be the Brewhouse, with construction on track to start in the final quarter of this year. It will be completed in late 2022.
The 60,000 sq ft scheme, designed by Cardiff-based architectural firm Rio, will include a six-storey extension separated from the main building via a full-length rooflight, which will reveal internal views of the Brewhouse.
It will provide 54,000 sq ft of new office space and 10,000 sq ft of A3 leisure space (bars and restaurants).
The original brewhouse has been the home of a number of famous brewers including Hancocks, Welsh
Brewers and more recently SA Brain & Co, before its relocation.
The office space will be targeted at established and start-up firms, including those from the fintech and tech sectors, which are experiencing strong growth in the city and the wider Cardiff Capital Region.
The bars and restaurants will also be targeted at indigenous operators.
The Brains-branded chimney, which has been part of the Cardiff skyline for many years, will remain next to the new development as a key feature of the overall Central Quay scheme.
While there is already strong tenant interest, chief executive of Rightacres Paul McCarthy said the Brewhouse could proceed on a speculative basis.
He also confirmed that Central Quay’s residential element of the scheme was also attracting interest from build-to-rent investors.
However, what will be the demand for new office and leisure space, if Covid-19 social distancing becomes a long-term norm?
With more people looking to work from home permanently, or reducing the amount of time they spend in offices, will new office development in particular be impacted?
However, there are those in the commercial property sector who believe that while demand could be impacted in the short to medium term, those investing in new office space could require more than prepandemic to ensure social distancing.
Mr Carthy is phlegmatic and said whatever the outcomes, Central Quay has the ability to flex its offer to meet the demands of the marketplace.
He said: “I guess, like many other people, I’ve been reading way more news articles over the last few weeks than normal, but one statement that has stuck in my mind is that we have gone from ‘2020 to 2030 in just a few weeks’.
“In normal times businesses would want at least a year to plan and test the working-from-home concept. They actually had to do it overnight and it works, well to a point.”
However, he said the people will still need to come together physically in working environments that