Capital Quarter

Fusion is the company that just built the Windsor Place scheme. They seem to be operating at the luxury end of the market, the top rent there is over £13K a year.

Lets hope they finish the top off on this one. I had a look at Windsor Court yesterday. The facade on Windsor Place is nice. The Facade on Windsor Lane is also decent quality. The first four floors fronting Dumfries Place are also decent and actually compliment the lovely art deco-ish building next door.

But I just can't get past the porta cabin look on the top. It genuinely looks like they have run out of money and can't afford to finish the development. Does anyone know who the architects are? What were they thinking?

Fascinating. Three students towers all proposed within half a year of each other, with all three potentially being built simultaneously. Rightacres are no doubt having a rethink on their tower. It's hard to believe their proposal was the first one, over two years ago, and we've heard nothing beyond "It will be 90m tall!". Maybe they could go for a residential build instead?

With regard to the new changes, initially I didn't like it. But the above photo doesn't really do it justice. The DAS on the planning website (16/01855/MJR) shows that it has potential. If it's made of stone like No. 1 Central Square and Admiral HQ it could look quite smart. I also think it complements JR Smart's John Street and Capital Quarter towers a lot more than the previous design. It's also taller, which is good in my opinion. Once again, it's all down to materials!

Looking at the Design Statement (page 25), it appears as if they want to use a lot of engineered stone, which I think is a real positive. They also want to use a lot of brick and aluminum spandrel panels and grating. Materials will be really important and I know that CCC's planners are pushing for quality on tall developments much more than previous years.

I also think it compliments the wider development much more in terms of style and it'll be interesting to see how they fill the final plot (Block J on the masterplan) which is going to be a tower.

I'm not shocked by the switch from private residential to student accomodation. Despite the moaning by other forum members, Cardiff still has a significant shortage of quality student accomodation and it will only get worse as Cardiff University expands. People also need to factor in the effect of Brexit on the property market. I'm not into doom-and-gloom statements or looking to re-run the referendum arguments, but confidence in the property market has taken a hit, with some developers and investors put the brakes on schemes. So from a developers point of view, a switch to student accomodation in a city with a shortage is a no-brainer.

One thing I have noticed is the big move towards darker materials in the last 4 tall building proposals. John Street, Customhouse Street, Bridge Street and now this all highlight the use of "darker materials", specifically to contrast with earlier lighter coloured or white tall buildings. I'm still not 100% sure of this approach. In particular with this building I think the dark metal cladding at the top of the tower might look a little odd. A slightly odd shaped black box on top of a pale stone effect one.

Dark colours are more flattering shall we say. However down in the bay on Sunday I noticed how tatty the white coloured flats now look. Even St David's Hotel looks less than 5 star.

You should see it inside, it's more like 3 star Best Western!

You should see it inside, it's more like 3 star Best Western!

So long as it has the prices to match.

Five Star Luxurious accommodation and public areas, with a range of extra facilities and a multilingual service available. Guests are greeted at the hotel entrance. High quality menu and wine list.

What’s occurrin’ Bore Da gwesty Dewi.
Have you made sure your car is locked with a separate lock mind?
The heavily chlorinated pool is on yer right, bedroom is up the noisy atrium.


Rooms start at £90 They need to keep the riff-raff out of this 5 star establishment!!

Dark colours are more flattering shall we say. However down in the bay on Sunday I noticed how tatty the white coloured flats now look. Even St David's Hotel looks less than 5 star.

Sovereign Quay and the building opposite have never been painted since built, St Davids was cleaned and painted last year but its biggest problem is the room dividers on the balconies turning a yellow colour. St Daivds is a nice place when viewed from the car park and the terrace is a nice quiet spot to sit in the sun when Mermaid Quay is heaving, and the atrium is very impressive, I especially like it around Christmas time as they place lights all around the entrance, but as a former member of the Spa i found the price went up but the quality stayed the same (which isn't great as it needs a big refurbishment).

I've had a go at photoshop and this is what it should look like when/if it all gets built
Not sure how accurate it is mind.

And another view