General Developments

But Jantra & Paul, "I have something they didn't have; a good feeling about this".

The main difference about these new towers is that they aren't just ideas or somebody's ego trip. They are going to serve a purpose, and I think they are far more likely to come off than previous proposals. Especially now that the council appears to be somewhat encouraging it.

Looks like the conversion of Dominions House is underway! I'm going to start saving for my egg and chips in that rooftop restaurant at the top of what will be an Indigo Hotel. When you look at that building which has been perhaps become a little anonymous, it's going to scrub up really well! I wonder if we could get any more of these types of Hotel in queen street when this hopefully proves to be a great success. Anyway really pleased to see this underway







Just found this small image from property managers Maven

The empty and overgrown plot fronting the old Bute East Dock next to Cardiff County Hall is going to be home to....
... 117 apartments and houses.

Fronting the dock there will be an apartment block containing 85 apartments. This looks to be 7 storeus tall, with the top two floors recessed. There will be terraces/patios for the ground floor and 5th floor apartments and, and balconies for those on other floors. The first five storeys will be brick as per the neighbouring buildings, with the top two stories clad with a "combination of flat metal panels and opacified glazing".

There will then be 32 houses between the apartment block and Schooner Way: 8 two bed, 18 three bed and 6 four bed. They are a mix of 2, 2.5 and 3 storey houses. The houses will be brick with "flat panel highlight colours" - which could quite quickly look dated in my view.

See http://planning.cardiff.gov.uk/online-a ... APR_114142

In my view this is fairly low density given the size of the site. Although it probably isn't a suitable location for a taller building to "bookend" the dock given the lack of a bookend at the other end!

More generally, what are peoples thoughts on Atlantic Wharf? I think its a bit depressing. It feels unkempt, and there is very little in the way of local shops, cafes or services. Hasn't the Wharf pub closed now as well?

More generally, what are peoples thoughts on Atlantic Wharf? I think its a bit depressing. It feels unkempt, and there is very little in the way of local shops, cafes or services. Hasn't the Wharf pub closed now as well?

It is a bit depressing, it lacks a sense of place somehow. I think it should pick up as the empty spaces around it are filled in and once its got a modern primary school. It's a bit cut off from everywhere at the moment and not really a place where families want to live.

What happened to that water-skiing thing that was going to go on the east dock?

It's a bit depressing. Although it's a bit suburb-y in parts I actually quite like the building style. The red brick is out of fashion at the moment but I think it will last the test of time better than some other new builds in the Bay area, particularly those with faddy coloured render. If Holiday Inn Express could be tempted to bugger off something decent could be built on that site and the adjoining car park. It would make the area feel a bit more urban.

The lack of activity on the water is the real killer. There is no reason to pay Atlantic Wharf a visit unless you are visiting someone. I think it's destined to be almost solely residential although if the west side of LGA gets developed with some commercial, County Hall is redeveloped it could become a lot more desirable to live there.

I think if two things had been done differently, Atlantic Wharf may have turned out better.

1) If the feeder to the bay had been maintained, could there have been scope for it to be a marina? At least for powered as opposed to sail boats. Or at least to host a few moored house boats. The feeder linking to Roath Basin would then have provided something quite nice for developments to front on to.

For the marina idea to work, Roath Basin would also have to be connected to the Inner Harbour as opposed to the Roath Dock / Queen Alexandra Dock system... would that be impractical? And would Bute East Dock be too far inland to be attractive for boat users.. quite a long way to get out into the main bay and then out to sea. Would it have been a flop?

2) Central Link and the lack of development on the Eastern side. Perhaps the Steelworks on the Eastern Side precludes anything being done that side. But the "urban motorway" that is the Central Link brings the whole ambiance of the place down in my view. If there had been something like Lloyd George Avenue (but without the hideous bypass feeling of it) on the eastern bank, with apartment buildings fronting the dock, it would look much more attractive in my view. But would there be room for all this given the Steelworks?

It is VERY residential for somewhere so central. Are there any pubs or cafes or restaurants or shops? (apart from the "Bargain Booze" on Lloyd George Avenue)

It appears that Mike Biddulph, a former academic on urban design as master planning is now the urban design officer at Cardiff Council. This is excellent news IMO and will hopefully influence developments for the better. The planning statement mentions things like improved pedestrian connections, shared surfaces and active frontages all included as part of pre-application advice for this application with this urban design officer.

I don't think it's the worst development cardiff bay has seen by any stretch. The use of standing seam zinc is actually refreshing for Cardiff and the lack is red brick can only be a good thing. Having a tall building, as suggested, is not going to make this a 'place'... Could be worse.

The wharf is still open and they've just put up a new sign promoting their deals on schooner way so I don't think they are closing just yet.

Not sure where else to put this -

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/incoming/a ... ritt%20CBE

It's a liveable city report for Cardiff. It doesn't really tell us anything new but intersesting nonetheless. The comparisons to the other core cities in the UK are eye opening. It underlines, for me, just how far Bristol is ahead of us in economic terms.