New tower of glass opposit the golden cross

Britain needs to build more skyscrapers. It's not as if we've got much land to play with, especially since there's a housing shortage and we want to preserve our green spaces.

That's not really true. Under 7% of the UK's land area is classed as urban - less than is classed as woodland (12.7%). Wales is around 4% 'urban' and 96% 'rural' - and that doesn't take into account parks, gardens etc within urban areas.

Personally I like tall buidings and urban bulk because they help make for exciting, efficient mixed-use city centres.

Those of us who remember that far back will know how dead the centre of Cardiff was in the evenings in the 1960s and 70s when the idea of zoning virtually drove any residential development out to the suburbs. The arguements against suburban sprawl are more to do with transport links, community cohesion and public services rather than a shortage of land.

Who is Adrian Jones and what on earth is he talking about in this article?

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... es-cardiff

The man's a luddite. Cities that don't evolve die. Thankfully Cardiff is forward thinking Imagine having Bristol's administration

What is wrong with Bristol's administration?

I think Bristol is good at being what it's meant to be. It already has a purpose; to provide a relatively nice place to live for middle-class families. It doesn't want to become a metropolis, hence the low number of high-rise buildings. It is by no means behind any other city in terms of development - it just develops in its own unique way.

This is where Cardiff differs. Cardiff has yet to decide what it wants to be. Since the days of the mine closures it's almost been lost and struggling to justify itself. The main reason for its existence was merely that it was the capital of Wales. Now it looks like there's some sort of vision, so we'll see in a decade or so how it plays out!

This is where Cardiff differs. Cardiff has yet to decide what it wants to be. Since the days of the mine closures it's almost been lost and struggling to justify itself. The main reason for its existence was merely that it was the capital of Wales. Now it looks like there's some sort of vision, so we'll see in a decade or so how it plays out!

It's a fair point - but being made the capital city of Wales gave Cardiff a life-support system from the 1950s until the present day. Imagine where we'd be if that hadn't happened - we'd be Stoke on Taff!

Failed Prime Minister and hack politician Jim Callaghan said this in 1955;

"My constituents are more interested in whether there's an extra coal ship in the docks than whether Cardiff is made capital city of Wales"

Thanks Jim, why the hell did we name a square after you, you idiot?

Ash

Callaghan was a buffoon. So was thatcher and rhodri morgan - all against Cardiff's progress.

The single biggest issue facing economic development is the state and it's lack of entrepreneurial spirit, it's risk averse nature and the inability of its denizens to see beyond the next election.

What is wrong with Bristol's administration?

Answer: They have a policy against tall buildings!

Occasionally they'll allow something around 15 to 17 storeys, but very rarely anything over 60m. They haven't quite gotten over Castlemead yet and I don't see them breaking the 100mm mark any time soon.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_t ... in_Bristol

Fortunately, there have been quite a number of proposed tall buildings in Cardiff that would break the 100m mark by some margin:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_t ... in_Cardiff

The financial crises killed off many of these schemes, not political opposition. Fortunately, there are still a number along the way:

Custom House St = 42 storeys, c.130m (Watkin Jones)
Bridge St/Charles St = 24 storeys, c.80m (Watkin Jones)
Capital Quarter, Block M = 23 storeys (JR Smart)
Herbert St = 24 storeys, c.77m (JR Smart)
Wood St, Central Sq = TBC
Dumballs Rd = TBC
Cardiff Point Tower 01 = 29 Storeys, 78.3m (Helium Miracle 101)
Cardiff Point Tower 02 = 23 Storeys, 69.4m (Helium Miracle 101)

There are a few others, but I think those above are the most likely to come off at the moment.

I'm not so sure about the last three in your list at the moment, hopefully they'll come off though. The developer behind the Dumballs Road scheme has gone very very quiet and Cardiff Pointe is developing very slowly, we are years off getting those towers I fear.

What I'm curious about seeing are plans for the Central Square tower. Since this one was announced in the Central Square masterplan Watkins Jones have appeared on the scene with the 42 floor tower. I can't see Rightacres liking that very much, and you have to wonder if they were thinking they were going to be building Cardiff's tallest tower. It will be way off based on the initial announcemet and with them being so close to Cardiff Council on the scheme, and it being arguably the flagship development in the city at the moment, you have to wonder if we'll see something much taller than the masterplan tower. Maybe it's just me dreaming!

I can't see Rightacres liking that very much, and you have to wonder if they were thinking they were going to be building Cardiff's tallest tower. It will be way off based on the initial announcemet and with them being so close to Cardiff Council on the scheme, and it being arguably the flagship development in the city at the moment, you have to wonder if we'll see something much taller than the masterplan tower. Maybe it's just me dreaming!

I know Paul McCarthy the CEO of Rightacres reasonably well - and he's no size queen! He's a local boy who loves his city but who wants to make money. I don't think Rightacres will go for height for the sake of it.

I wondered that myself. You'd think a flagship development like Central Square would want to make a statement. I suppose it depends on what they want to use the tower for, residential or office. I suspect the former as they're more economical, unless office space is a premium. There are some early images of the proposal out there, but given how much the bus station designs have changed I would put much too it. It'll be interesting to see who the architect is for that part.

I'd really like to see more buildings on the style of Admiral HQ. That's a good size for Cardiff and they've used good quality materials, which in my opinion, is more important than height. I'm disappointed that Capital Quarter doesn't have more buildings of that quality. At the very least, just have a simple glazed facade rather than all that rain-screen cladding crap that dates so quickly.