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Central Square

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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Simon_SW17

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Re: Central Square

PostTue Aug 05, 2025 11:03 pm

I was out in Borough Market today and was thinking that a more interesting shaped building, such as The Shard, would be a better option than this proposal for Central Square. The shape and height of the building don't really seem to fit with the rest of the area. I do like the lower floor design, don't hate the whole thing but not entirely sure about it.
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moyceyyy

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Re: Central Square

PostWed Aug 06, 2025 1:31 pm

AlwaysBeBlue wrote:Wales on line is having a breakdown over this. I will never understand people's issue with these buildings. The City has never looked better and this building would be iconic for Cardiff, especially as the stadium is often pictures on the news.
People seem to want Cardiff stay like a small town and it baffles me why


Agreed. Projects like this also provide a huge economic stimulus. One of the basic theories of Keynesian economics: jobs equals growth, but jobs also leads to disposable income, which leads to consumption, which in turn leads to more jobs. Cardiff needs projects like these to stay ahead of the curve. If we don’t, we fall behind. It’s just the way the world is going.

On another note, I do think this is slightly too tall at 50 storeys. It will be out of proportion adjacent to other tall buildings and will make the others look shorter. Even 40 would look huge.
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AlwaysBeBlue

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Re: Central Square

PostWed Aug 06, 2025 4:33 pm

moyceyyy wrote:
AlwaysBeBlue wrote:Wales on line is having a breakdown over this. I will never understand people's issue with these buildings. The City has never looked better and this building would be iconic for Cardiff, especially as the stadium is often pictures on the news.
People seem to want Cardiff stay like a small town and it baffles me why


Agreed. Projects like this also provide a huge economic stimulus. One of the basic theories of Keynesian economics: jobs equals growth, but jobs also leads to disposable income, which leads to consumption, which in turn leads to more jobs. Cardiff needs projects like these to stay ahead of the curve. If we don’t, we fall behind. It’s just the way the world is going.

On another note, I do think this is slightly too tall at 50 storeys. It will be out of proportion adjacent to other tall buildings and will make the others look shorter. Even 40 would look huge.


I think over the years as the City grows, we will probably get more and more 35 to maybe even 60 story building and will all fit in eventually.

This can raise the bar for the next 5 years.
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Ash

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Re: Central Square

PostWed Aug 06, 2025 8:17 pm

AlwaysBeBlue wrote:Wales on line is having a breakdown over this. I will never understand people's issue with these buildings. The City has never looked better and this building would be iconic for Cardiff, especially as the stadium is often pictures on the news.
People seem to want Cardiff stay like a small town and it baffles me why


Well, the people who comment on Wales Online are generally pretty elderly and resistant to change.

I think the pendulum swings back and forth between the "demolish everything" attitude of the 1960s and 70s to the "conserve everything" attitude that follwed it. I'm somewhere in the middle.

Do i think we lost some building that shouldn't have been demolished? Sure, the Wales Empire Pool and Capitol Cinema spring to mind.

Do I fret about a distinctive building on a vacant plot? Not at all
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Cardiffbay

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Re: Central Square

PostThu Aug 07, 2025 8:44 am

Wales online click ‘o’ meter has clearly been working overtime with the 50 story building news as they have posted another 2 story’s about new towers in Cardiff which obviously has triggered the comments again. Shame that all they do is chase the clicks and comments from the same negative vocal people.
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Ash

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Re: Central Square

PostWed Aug 13, 2025 1:25 pm

Cardiffbay wrote:Wales online click ‘o’ meter has clearly been working overtime with the 50 story building news as they have posted another 2 story’s about new towers in Cardiff which obviously has triggered the comments again. Shame that all they do is chase the clicks and comments from the same negative vocal people.


Sadly, it's the Reach plc policy. Look at any of their websites, local or national, and they're all the same.

I feel very sorry for the poor sods working there. You get a degree, do a post-grad in journalism and then end up writing click-bait for a pittance. No wonder good journalists like Martin Shiplton and Will Hayward have jumped ship.

The worst thing is that it doesn't even work as a strategy. 80% of Reach's income comes from the dwindling and overpriced print product as people shy away from the dire online offerings.
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Philnpt

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Re: Central Square

PostFri Sep 19, 2025 8:38 pm

Planning application has been submitted for the 169m 50 story tower
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Simon_SW17

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Re: Central Square

PostSat Sep 20, 2025 10:37 am

Link to the planning application;

https://www.cardiffidoxcloud.wales/publicaccess/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=T29XDOECGKZ00&activeTab=summary

I wonder if this is a shoo-in or whether the council will push back? Assuming the extant planning permission for a 35 storey building will help with this larger proposal.
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Ash

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Re: Central Square

PostSat Sep 20, 2025 3:45 pm

I think it's a shoo-in in terms of planning as far as the officers are concerned. Whetehr the elected members go along is another matter. While most people on this forum are generally fans of high-rise, towers can be very divisive.

What i thnk is clear is that if you're going to build something this tall, this is a good place to do it and the design is, for now, pretty high quality.
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durhamcowboy

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Re: Central Square

PostSun Sep 21, 2025 9:22 pm

Not sure if anyone has spoofed this but the Royal Society of architects in wales have launched a campaign for ideas on how to reimagine Central Square https://www.architecture.com/knowledge- ... re-cardiff
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