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Church St development

if it's about Cardiff.. Sport, Entertainment, Transportation, Business, Development Projects, Leisure, Eating, Drinking, Nightlife, Shopping, Train Spotting! etc.. then we want it here!
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Bluegazza

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Re: Church St development

PostSat Jun 02, 2018 9:02 am

If we are talking about matching buildings in the city centre, there is St Davids shopping centre.

The materials used look similar, the canopies are almost identical and the modern dark top matches.

I think it will fit in well and is much better than what is there now seems like a bit of a food and drink destination?
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Mikey87

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Re: Church St development

PostSat Jun 02, 2018 7:06 pm

Yeah, the stonework looks very similar. I hope they approach Capitol in the same way.
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cardiffian

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Re: Church St development

PostMon Jun 04, 2018 10:52 am

Trying to match in new buildings with current buildings is often totally crazy and doesn't make good architecture.

All its is is a way for someone to justify a design choice. But there are many other more important ways to justify and validate design choices.

Often matching with older building , but not doing it 100% accurately will make the new building look worse.

Maybe to follow the logic we should all wear matching clothes and drive matching cars.... oh yeh and make those from a random point in history as well....
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Cardiff

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Re: Church St development

PostMon Jun 04, 2018 11:11 am

I dont see how it is crazy to ensure an urban area has consistent design and materials.

To use your own analogy of clothing you would definitely notice someone walking around in modern clothing in Victorian times, now imagine if that person in modern clothing was wearing a rip off Adidas track suit and big white trainers, you have the equivalent of the the church street proposal!

We do all wear matching clothes and have matching cars, thats how you can distinguish the difference between 1990's/2000's/2010's fashion and cars. There are differences but ultimately we all follow or are subtly forced to follow design trends.
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Bluegazza

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Re: Church St development

PostMon Jun 04, 2018 12:35 pm

Would it not be consistent design and materials to use St David's as an example?

I don't really understand what people want in terms of architectural design? This is a relatively small building having a facelift it needs to be financially viable?
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Cardiff

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Re: Church St development

PostMon Jun 04, 2018 1:12 pm

I think as Cardiff expands this area becomes unique in that the buildings are of some historic character (no matter how plain) and any modern additions to this area only dilute the historic charm of the area.

When Cardiff is competing with other UK cities for tourists its needs a USP, the castle and the castle quarter and arcades are this. Cardiff needs to capitalist that there arnt many cities in the UK with a large castle and historic quarter minutes away from large shopping malls, restaurants and entertainment facilities, diluting the historic character of this area removes this USP, anything that can be done to improve this USP can only be a positive.
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cardiffian

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Re: Church St development

PostMon Jun 04, 2018 5:52 pm

"I dont see how it is crazy to ensure an urban area has consistent design and materials."

There simple is no reason to do it! This also robs us of the opportunity to explore new designs and building styles and create genuinely interesting built environments rather than a fake pastiche!

And so what if someone was wearing victorian clothes!
Dictating how things should look on the basis how others look around them is close minded.
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Cardiff

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Re: Church St development

PostTue Jun 05, 2018 7:32 pm

Why does it rob us of being able to do new designs, the entire edge of the city is being developed with different design, the reason to do it is to preserve the only part of Cardiff city center that feels historic and 'pretty'.

Its more small minded to think you can go around building what you want with no acknowledgment of whats next door or nearby, these are the reasons most hate the post war developments for exactly the reason as they wiped away what was before them to install a 'utopian ideal' of the now/future.
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cardiffian

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Re: Church St development

PostWed Jun 06, 2018 7:52 am

Cardiff wrote:Its more small minded to think you can go around building what you want with no acknowledgment of whats next door or nearby, these are the reasons most hate the post war developments for exactly the reason as they wiped away what was before them to install a 'utopian ideal' of the now/future.


Sorry but what a building next door looks like has almost no bearing on what a building next to it should look like. If that area was full off brutalist architecture I'm sure you would be clambering to see more, just to match in?

I think its more likely that some people have a romanticised view of certain styles and types of building and just want to see more of the same...
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Cardiff

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Re: Church St development

PostWed Jun 06, 2018 10:48 am

Actually if an area was of good quality brutalist buildings with great streetscapes then i would think a brutalist building would be more suitable, though these areas dont really exist, though brutalist styles are back with a vengeance.

I have stated my views above, its the same view that many expressed about the student tower on park place in thats its massing is out of scale with the area, the materials dont reflect the buildings near by, the design is pretty poor for the area and the historic nature of the street will be diminished by it. This is not however reason to stop a development and money does the talking as with all developments, i am not naive enough to think that a desire to make Church St. more historical will actually make it so.

I have a romance for great streetscapes with cohesive architecture and areas of the city that have a sense of place. Ultimately i would prefer this part of the city to enhance its historical charm, and you would prefer they built whatever as long as its better than what was there before. Church street looks a mess at the moment, it feels neither historic or part of the Castle quarter, yet this is the oldest part of the city center and anything to enhance this i feel is a positive to residents and tourists.

I simply can not understand the logic that when building new buildings, no consideration should be given to the historic context its being built in. This is the mindset that resulted in so many failed post war development and why many British cities have been considered ugly for many years and is being addressed in many cities now (including Cardiff). This to me smacks of failed thinking that is now becoming old fashioned.
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