Scheme all set for one of Wales’ tallest buildings
PLANS to build what could be one of Wales’ tallest buildings look set to be given the goahead.
Cardiff council’s planning committee will meet this week to discuss the development, which includes a 35-storey tower, consisting mainly of apartments, and a separate pavilion.
The plans for a site in Wood Street in the capital have been amended since they were first announced in 2021, with the height of the tower block increasing by five storeys and the number of apartments proposed going from 330 to 364.
Updated plans for the development, which went through a re-consultation process, reposition the building further north by half a metre.
If approved, the proposed 113-metre-high building will be one of the tallest in Wales to have acquired planning permission.
Plans were revealed in March 2021 for a 35-storey building in Bute Terrace in Cardiff.
However, a planning application for this development is yet to be submitted and few details are available on it so far, including exactly how tall it could be.
Plans for a 42-storey building for land on Customhouse Street, Cardiff, were approved in 2016, but the development is yet to be completed.
The tallest building in Wales is currently The Tower building in Swansea, which is 107 metres high.
Concerns have been raised over the changes to the Wood Street plans, with the chief among these being the potential overbearing nature of the tower block and its impact on daylight for neighbouring buildings.
However, the proposed repositioning by developers Rightacres Ltd is based on the council’s concerns that the original positioning would reduce the width of the footway.
It is also hoped the development, which forms part of the wider Central Square masterplan, will help the continued regeneration of the area and promote economic development.
Central Square has been through a lot of change in recent years, with the demolition of St David’s House in 2019 paving the way for the new UK Government building and public area, which includes the Betty Campbell statue. A new BBC Cymru headquarters now also calls Central Square its home, and a long-awaited new bus station looks set to be completed this year.
The project, which is being discussed by the council’s planning committee on Thursday, would see the rest of the land formerly occupied by the building developed.
Thirty-two of the 364 apartments in the 113m-high tower block would be serviced.
If approved, the building’s ground floor would have space for shops and businesses and 894sq m will be set aside for a communal space, which will include a “winter garden”.
Plans show the pavilion could be used as a cafe and include external seating and a green roof. The application also proposes 484 cycle spaces.
The committee is recommended to approve the plans, subject to the developer meeting a number of conditions and entering into a Section 106 agreement.