Had a look at the DAS. Still not a fan of the scheme really. Some of the design looks like they are trying to go for something of a retro modernism look for the resi and office components.
Take a look at the last two pages of:
http://planning.cardiff.gov.uk/online-a ... 853113.pdf.
I'm not a fan of the new look Marland Street. OK, better than what was there until very recently. But in my view its not great. To me theres something "Milton Keynes" about the style. Neither hte BBC building nor the Office building have quite the right proportions or shapes.
And I don't really like the idea of this slab of the Interchange acting like a plinth for the office and resi elements above. Again I think it looks "retro" but not in an especially good way.
And I really dont like the open air car park. Around half the flats, and office workers at the BBC and the Interchange office element will have a view of an open air car park. Its just not good enough for a city centre scheme thats meant to be pushing the envelope. Cover it up, put a proper roof garden on it (not the green hedge trim).
Agree that the changes made to the resi element are a backward step. What is it with making things random? Architecture, especially resi architecture, works better with either symmetry or a properly "interesting" shape. Some halfway house of taking a symmetric regular shape and sticking some cheap random bits on it does not work!