New tower of glass opposit the golden cross

I think that's what peiriannydd said

They are doing enabling works for a while, I think piling starts in the new year.

They've been really busy these last few weeks clearing things from the site, building a new wall and railings near the path that goes under the Bute Street bridge etc.

They seem to be putting up a wooden frame today, presumably for new hoardings around the site.

So lots of visible daily progress on site actually, just a while until we get to seeing piling and what I guess will be a monster crane on-site.

The crane will be mental. Am I right in saying its too tall to have a tower crane extending the entire height? Will they have to jack it to the side of the building?

Don't know, it's certainly bloody tall so you can imagine that would be the case.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... h-10671345

Remember guys, this tower is going to be pathetic! We need to stay in the 19th century with ageing architecture and not turn into a modern and exciting city in any way!

lol

Remember......

1. This is...er....student housing. We're not talking Manhattan here.
2. Two of the most affluent provincial cities in the uk-- Edinburgh and Bristol- have turned their backs on high rise . They are rich and attractive cities .
3. HIgh rise is a bit naff. Look at that ridiculous tower in Swansea. Does that make Swansea modern and exciting. I don't think so.

Remember......

1. This is...er....student housing. We're not talking Manhattan here.
2. Two of the most affluent provincial cities in the uk-- Edinburgh and Bristol- have turned their backs on high rise . They are rich and attractive cities .
3. HIgh rise is a bit naff. Look at that ridiculous tower in Swansea. Does that make Swansea modern and exciting. I don't think so.

Maybe high-rise (and actually bordering on skyscraper!! for the customhouse st development) is a little marmite! But I imagine that the vast majority of visitors to this forum err on the side of loving em!! OK Manhattan we are not and will never be, but given the small size of Cardiff City centre in our own little kinda legoland way We're heading towards a decent skyline. Personally I'm loving it!

I have some concerns about the rush to build tall. Not so much the principle but the quality. Once they're up they're up and in your face. There will be no hiding the current crop of towers being built.

I think the chap penning the article has issues with Cardiff and did a bit of a hatchet job on the city before. He comes from the Owen Hatherley school of thought which tends to look at exemplars in some of the worlds most affluent and progressive cities and laments the fact that stuff being put up in relatively poor provincial cities doesn't compare.

In Cardiff's case there isn't a natural way for the city centre to expand. It is surrounded on three sides by high density terraced housing in established neighbourhoods (Riverside, Adamsdown, Grange etc). With the space abailable in the city centre the only way to get density is to build upwards.

I'd love to see a genuinely cutting edge mixed use area be built on the one reasonably sized plot that we do have in Dumballs Rd. But now the masterplan appears to have been ditched it looks like it's going to be a free for all down there with a variety of different developers with a variety of different ambitions looking to fill their boots.

Remember......

1. This is...er....student housing. We're not talking Manhattan here.
2. Two of the most affluent provincial cities in the uk-- Edinburgh and Bristol- have turned their backs on high rise . They are rich and attractive cities .
3. HIgh rise is a bit naff. Look at that ridiculous tower in Swansea. Does that make Swansea modern and exciting. I don't think so.

1. Thats the point?

2. lol! Bristol have not turned their back on high-rise buildings. That is completely false.

I currently live here and attend as many planning meetings as I can. Last year they voted to lift the height cap on high-rise buildings. An 82-metre tower is already under construction at Redcliffe Quarter.

So, they've actually turned in favour of high rise.

3. And uh, I actually "that ridiculous tower" in Swansea has actually helped the city's ambition in becoming modern and vibrant. And its called Meridian, by the way.

I also disagree with the point about Swansea’s tower. It’s part of quite a nice marina development and, to be honest, if the tower wasn’t there then Swansea wouldn’t really have any true landmark buildings to be proud of. It didn’t fair too well against the Luftwaffe. I lived there for 4 years and everybody there seemed to appreciate the tower.

Regarding the article, I remember getting quite wound up by this when it was released. He contradicts himself entirely. After shamelessly bashing Cardiff’s tall buildings plan, he heaps praise on Swansea suggesting they’re forward thinking!

I love them. Nothing wrong with a bit of high rise, makes it look like a City rather than a town.
Plus, all these buildings can be improved upon in the future if they don't look as good as a high rise from Dubai.

New York has many 20/25 floor building which range from dire to fantastic, but that is city living.

Two of the most affluent provincial cities in the uk-- Edinburgh and Bristol- have turned their backs on high rise . They are rich and attractive cities .

It's not the case that Bristol has 'turned its back' on high rise. It's more that the city has had totally dysfunctional local government for the best part of two decades. Hardly anything major ever gets built, be it low or high rise. The saga of the Bristol Arena and the two football grounds areg good examples of what a combination of weak local government and excessive nimbyism brings you.