nyone know what floor the core is up to please?

I would say 9 - so 3 to go. I've just updated on my developments page where I'm posting updates every coupla days - (I'll follow the progress of any new build over 150ish feet - now in some cities that would be a full time job but not so in our fair city! - although that could change if ISV - Callaghan Square and hotel at Cap Qtr get going!!)

http://www.cardiffwalesmap.com/CardiffDevelopments.htm

Are nice 1 paul i forget this is more then a forum. Nice pick of the core with 9 clear level's and i think 1 behind the core box. Very fast core construction my guess is this is slipform not jumpform right? Anyway i'd love to see the core keep rising to say twice it's current height but it's nice just to see construction. Still if Bayscape really does break ground this year we got alot going on

Admiral site is looking good.

Off topic but very close to admiral, what is happening to the rapport site? surely needs to be sorted out next. And what is happening with the empty site near the chapel bar?

These two sites despately need somthing built just to finish that part of town off for the time being. Until the cia, job centre are revamped.

nothing is happening to either right now. There were plans for a youth hostel next to the chapel and flats/offices on Rapports, but those were both way back.

Noticed at the site today a significant amount of steel, looks like the 'meccano' phase is about to begin - perhaps not the technical term but you get my drift!! We could have a significant skeleton of a building not far away. I guess we'll get a real feel for the overall size of this development then, and within this compact area I reckon it's gonna feel pretty substantial. I wonder if it's presence may somehow spark interest in those two other areas mentioned?

Core now just visible from the Bay... and the view from the upper floors of County Hall suggests that it'll be about the same height as Helmont House if there's still a couple more floors to go!

That's pretty big for Cardiff.

Am I the only one who thinks that the concrete pillar looks a bit like one of the monoliths from 2001: A Space Odyssey?

Why when constructing these buildings do they use a mixture of rusty and shiny steel girders? What are the pros of using rusty ones?

I think it's probably the second option (although I'm only guessing). The rust is only surface oxidation (a bit like when copper turns green) - it doesn't mean that the structural integrity of the beam has been compromised.I would have thought that fireproofing comes later???

I would also suspect that whilst the beams look the same , they are in fact probably very different in terms of load bearing strength (ie not the same). The non rusty ones might come from say batch A of load bearing type A which have recently been produced (ie they will rust given time in the open) whilst the other beams are from batches B,C,D etc and are of many respective different load bearing strengths and have been stored outside...

I think I'll stop writing this drivel now in case it's all bull.

Are you suggesting that we should pay no heed to posts on this Forum as all posters post drivel?

Here's another Admiral update ...

They've already started working on framework? Wow.

Is the structural design quite unusual. The big concrete block in the middle and everything else built around it?

Any engineers about?

No there are lots of towers built with concrete core and girder construction. The pinicle in london was to be built the same however i think the core there is jumpform and Admirals core is slipform. The shard had a slipform core. From what i have seen slipform seems to be faster construction time but i maybe wrong. St davids 2 has concrete core/stairwells also.

Weren't the Twin Towers in NYC built with a central core?

As said above - It is used quite often, the concrete core provides lateral stability to the steel frame, which saves having to cross brace. It also provides a useful fire protected core in which to house stairs, lifts and other services.

Once the girders are in place you start to get a much better feel for the size of the build, and the public space around it. As i remember the west side of the build, closest to the camera, will have retail units on the ground floor, but they are set back a little under the building itself. So, like Callaghan Sq 1, there will be columns and outside public space within the girder structure that we can see. Based on the (massive) pic on the link below it does not look like this internal/external space will be very deep, but it will be there. So I think the pavement will feel quite wide for a pavement, but nothing like a square.

" target="_blank">http://www.stoford.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Admiral-building-CGI.jpg

9-11 was terrible, there is no doubting that, but it did force the architects of the world to come up with new ideas for how to deal with such events. I saw National Geographic's Mega-structures talking about the Shanghai World Financial Centre last night, and how it would deal and cope with such an event.

I think you get an idea of the height of the colonnade already on that pic. you can see the height of the girders nearest the cinema

Bloody hell, they are progressing quickly aren't they ?!

Looking forward to coming home at the end of this week and paying a visit to have a good look at it.

Just a brief comment. I like the way the Admiral building already adds bulk to views of the city as you approach it. It's a particularly striking addition to the the view from Park Place.

it looks massive.

Don't believe everything you read on the internet.

This thread has gone a bit off topic.

Anybody have any Admiral HQ updates or pics?

Actually now you see the size of the outer perimeter, the inner concrete core doesn't look so large.

Think they've reached the top as they've stayed at this level for nearly a week now ...

They took the construction "pod" off the top of the core a while ago so the core is not getting any taller, though the structure covering the top of the building when finnished may be slightly taller.

Here's a couple more photos ...

I walked past this recently. The bit that surprised me was the extent to which the building forms a distinctive point on the south west corner. I guess you can see this in the first pic in the above post. It is hard to tell how the road will be aligned once this is complete, but it looks like the south facing frontage cuts back at a diagonal angle from the route taken by the road to form the distinctive point. It is not quite as 'square' as I had imagined it would be.

Here's some more photos ...

Some pics from yesterday

Fantastic!

The thing I like is its bulk, shame its not a wee bit taller.

I agree.
It would be nicer if it was just a bit taller. Not Burj Khalifa height, butt maybe a couple of metres.

People get obsessed with height far too much!!!!!! Give me a series of attractive good quality mid-rises over high-rise **** any day. I really don't understand why we would want one or two tall poppeys towering over Cardiff anyway.

Whats the rate that each floor is built? Is it one per week?