A DECISION on the location for a new £40m further education campus in the centre of Cardiff is expected next month.

Cardiff and Vale College is now evaluating a procurement process of two sites for its 140,000 sq ft campus – the Capital Quarter scheme and the former Lloyds Beal industrial site off Dumballs Road.

The Capital Quarter scheme is being developed by Cardiff property development company JR Smart. In its second phase of office development, it is currently constructing an 80,000 sq ft grade A office block. The scheme extends to seven acres and has planning consent for 700,000 sq ft of mixed development.

The former Lloyds Beal industrial site is owned by property development company Rightacres, which is also based in Cardiff.



Read more: Wales Online http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business-in-wales/business-news/2013/02/01/decision-due-soon-on-site-for-new-campus-91466-32722522/#ixzz2KFrPoNFn

Capital quarter would make sense what with the atrium being the other side of the tracks.

I'd be happy with either location, and I would like to see Capital Quarter rewarded for their speculative development, and to bring any future phases on.

That said, I'd love to see more development on Dumballs Road-it needs it.

I'd prefer Capital Quarter. With the new office building currently being constructed, the proposed student accommodation (due to go before planning soon), Cardiff and Vale college and the car park this would mean that phase 1 would be pretty much complete. This would be a rarity in Cardiff when CS, Capital Waterside, ISV, Roath Basin et al are in various states of incompleteness.

The danger of building on the Dumballs Road site is that it remains isolated, is surrounded by ad hoc development etc. That area represents the last city centre site where we could really get it right - properly planned, mixed use, good urban realm, well considered open spaces and creating a proper link between the bay and the centre etc. I'd prefer there to be a plan ready to be implemented when the economy picks up rather than a drip drip of development with no cohesion. It's already teetering on the cusp of a wasted opportunity in my opinion. The grim looking offices of Fusion Point at the north end and the fairly crap residential at the southern end (plus the Gulag that is Cardiff Bay cop shop) has got 'boulevard of broken dreams' written all over it. It will take some decent development to overcome these own goals as it is.

If there were no other sites available then fair enough, but lets face it there are shitloads of spaces crying out for development before Dumballs Rd gets a look in.

I agree just build it in Capital Quarter so JR Smart can move on to the next phase, at least that part of Cardiff will bring in some density and thing's will speed up. We can concentrate on Dumballs road after, if the Welsh Government decide to build there convention center and hotel on the site of Brains (which I hope they do) will really bring investors in and kick start development this side of the square.

The design for the new campus has just been released...

http://www.e-architect.co.uk/wales/cardiff_and_vale_college.htm?no_redirect=true

"The design will create a real life environment for skills training. Open and welcoming faculty clusters are set around a public route through the heart of the college. The building’s distinctive wedge shape means interior spaces are connected to south facing terraces with views towards Cardiff Bay. The over-sailing roof is angled to accommodate a 1,850 sq m photovoltaic array, and the fine dining sky restaurant is located under the northernmost tip with views across the city towards the Millennium Stadium."

"BDP is appointed as architect, interior designer and landscape architect for the £26m building which is programmed to start on site in August this year with completion in April 2015. The client is Rightacre Properties."

Er, I didnt notice anything saying exactly where this would be. Did I miss something?

I've been trying to figure out where it is from the descriptions of views of the Bay from the south facing terrace and the Millennium Stadium from the northernmost tip.

But if the client is Rightacres then it seems as if it will be the former Lloyds Beal site off Dumballs Rd (see first post in this thread).

I don't know where exactly the former Lloyds Beal site was and how far down Dumballs Rd it was. Anyone?

I quite like the design by the way.

Looks great!

If it's rightacres as the client it appears the college has chosen dumballs road.

does sound very soon to start though.

Is it the large empty squarish site (about the size of a football pitch) that's just to the south of Canal Parade?

If so, this is a great development in a great location.

I think that the Lloyds Beal site is nestled between the houses alongside Loudon Square and the back of the Zurich offices, although I may well be wrong.

Just saw James' post above and I think that we are concurring on the location.

Looks good, a bit out fo the way though. Ive never understood the whole Dumballs road thing as it seems a road that links nowhere, surely better to develop around Bute street or lloyd george Ave? I'm sure they could have fit this in on the site next to callaghan square where they are demolishing the old warehouse.

I disagree, I think it's a great location and Dumballs Road is as good as any to connect the city centre and the Bay, and it would extend the city centre somewhat, although I acknowledge that a college isn't typical city centre fair.

Well it's on the fringes of the city centre and I'm guessing it's an area where there may be a lack of 6th form provision. Never really understood the idea of 6th form colleges, can't schools run 6th forms?

I went to a 6th form..it's much better.

Means I have friends from school, college and uni. Granted, that's not a reason to base educational policy on, but it's as good a reason as most things that the Welsh GOvt use to justify policy.

looks a decent design and I'bve no objections if it located where the consensus seems to think on Dumballs Road. The road has potential to become interesting with much mixed use on it from business at one end to law and order at the other, with resi and HE sandwiched in between. We all want a master plan for Dumballs Road but if you can have this sort of development then it may just work through organic development

It's really stretching it to say that this is a city centre site I think. I'd say it was Butetown.

I've no real objection to the college being built here but it strikes me that this will be another area that will be half finished to join Capital Quarter, CS, Capital Waterside, Roath Basin etc etc etc. It would be nice - one of these days - to see one of these schemes finished.

I walked up Dumballs Road earlier and noticed that there's already a small Cardiff and Vale College building on Dumballs Road - directly across the road from where the new one is going to be. So if you wanmt to know where the new one will be - just find the old one and, erm, look across the road at the big empty patch of land with a 4.3 acre for sale sign on it.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business-in-wales/business-news/2013/03/11/45m-college-campus-to-be-built-in-cardiff-s-enterprise-zone-91466-32968032/

More here -

http://www.cavc.ac.uk/en/about-us/cavc-canal-parade/

Great.

There are similarities with Newport University's riverside building which was also designed by BDP. That building has a rooftop function room and terrace as well and works well, even if the roof did blow off a few months back.

The good thing with these educational facilities they always have a very strict deadline (start of the academnic year) so progress should be steady.

Great development, but does this mean that coleg glan hafren on the parade will close. and if so what will go in its place.

Houses I suspect.

If work is due to start in Summer 2013 with completion set for the summer 2015 then I guess they will need to get this through planning pretty soon.

Looking forward to this one going up.

I guess, being where it is, it will have a role in the ongoing tidy up at Canal Park, giving something visually interesting at the northern end. (even though it is primarily a car park). Will be interesting to see how it integrates (or turns its back on) the park.

The council has listed the Trowbridge Road campus as a possible site for the new East Cardiff high school.

I really have no idea what anybody could do with the City Road tower block.

Conversion to student flats?

Will the new campus replace all sites? They have a number of campuses don't they?Will the City Rd one definately be redundant?

I agree that the likelihood is that it will be converted into student flats. If it is I hope it gets an external makeover. It's s bit of a brute.

The old building on the parade is lovely, but may be difficult to re-use, hopefully they will keep using it or flog it to the Uni. It is in the Tredegarville conservation area so should be safe.

The general shape of the building reminds me vaugley of Central Library. I like the design of the thing, especially the roof garden. I assume that is a roof garden?