A large hoarding complete with artist's impression has appeared on the vacant lot between the Senedd and Atradius building. I didn't have a camera but from memory it promises a "headquaters building of up to 186,000 square feet".

That's much bigger than the planned 1, Assembly Square (60,000 sq ft) and suggests a combined building covering the sites of both 1 and 2 Assembly square.

There's no start or completion date or indication whether it's a speculative build. One possibility is that this is the BBC's chosen site for their relocated HQ.

All they have done is put up posters of what was planned, and what we have already seen. Probably in the hope of getting some interest.

I doubt it, but when major events like the challenge cup are happening oposite your construction site, or business people are being taken past on their way to Roath lock, then this kind of advertisment is probably useful, and if nothing else show the general public that at least there is a plan for the area! Its plainly obvious to me that the 1 assembly square next to the Senedd should really be the BBC headquarters!

I disagree re the BBC..I think it's too close to the senedd really.

It would rightly be seen by many as the media and government cosying up. The Bay is probably ideal for the BBC, but I think it literally being next to the senedd is too close.

I don't really see the problem in the BBC being there. It's right next to the heart of the hot air, it's close to the drama studios so all the BBC work in Cardiff could then be in one part of the city. If they are going to move from Llandaff I think this is their most likely option, or build on Roath Basin right next to the Roath Lock studios. When you consider that Callaghan Square South is seemingly being taken up by a mixture of Hugh James, L&G and possibly a convention centre (all rumour of course) I can see this as being the best option for them.

Besides, it would be nice to see Assembly Square full of buildings, then we only have to wait some 10 or 20 years for the other half of the Cardiff Waterside scheme to wake up...not that I blame the developer one bit.

With the option of the BBC or what could be a busines that fails, or a business that has poor working standards etc next to our national government debating chamber, you could just imagine the headlines of "it was happening next door!". Surely better to have a national company building there?

Personally, I'm not bothered.

I do though quite strongly believe that the media and government should not be too cosy, and having their symbolic HQ's in Wales next door to each other is a little bit too close for some.

The typical Kairdiffian, he who speaks Cantonese, and is indifferent to devolution will no doubt use it as evidence of the Taffia coluding together to control things.

Either way, I'd happilly see anything there, rather than nothing and it would shut up Julie Morgan with her plans to put an allotment there for AM's to use, a suggestion so astronimically lacking in ambition that it's almost untrue.

whoosh!

I think the "Kiardiff" accent has been pretty much extinct in Canton for many years - apart from in Wetherspoons and the Vic Park paddling pool on hot summer days!

Not saying that's a good or a bad thing - just a fact of life. It was never a city-wide accent anyway and you're far more likely to hear Welsh than "Kiardiff" in twenty first century Canton!

Historical factoid - Canton was majority Welsh speaking in the 1891 census - so the "Kiardiff" incursion could be seen as a hiatus. When the Clark's Pie shop changes its name to "Victoria Park Pies" you know an era has ended!

A piece in the WM says that the Life Sciences hub (backed with 100m of WG dosh) will be based at no 3 Assembly Square.

I don't know how significant their requirements are in terms of space or if the Hub is likely to grow and ignite further office demand. Hopefully no 3 will be close to full occupation and no 2 will start soon. Hope springs eternal.

There appears to be plenty of free space in No 3. I cycle past it everyday and overall it looks far from full some three/four years after being opened. The ground floor is empty for a start. I reckon that there is very little chance of no 2 being built speculatively alongside it.

The outdoor placard with the artists impression gives the illusion to Bay visitors that it's boom time for business in the Bay with a flashy HQ to be nestled in alongside the Sennedd.

The difficulty in letting out even a subdivided, modest sized office building in the shadow of the beating heart of goverrnment represents the reality that underpins what people like Jantra keep saying on this forum - and keeps getting slagged off for - that the office market in Cardiff is particularly underwhelming when compared to our peer cities, and the fact that we have a seat of regional government which does not generate any additional business activity in a manner that we had hoped for back in the early days.

Anyway,back on theme - the Life Sciences Launch should indeed be good news.

interesting news regarding 3 assembly square. Having a public sector funded tenant is not ideal but is better than nothing. That is not what caught my eye though, it was this bit from Matthew Philips

Good news. There was an article on there yesterday about an American life science company moving to Cardiff after investment from the LS fund & WG grant - perhaps they'll be based there too?

Would love to see them finish this scheme to the plans posted on here previously!

My guess is any actual life sciences firms with a wet lab element would not want to be in that type of environment. Better to have somewhere cheaper, and somewhere where various gases and liquids can be delivered easily, and if there are any animal experiments going on they will want to be out of town.

Yeah, it's not like Hollywood, where the Top Secret Biolab (TM) is always on the 20th floor of the glossy corporate skyscaper.

Ground floor industrial unit somewhere like Ocean Park is more like it.

Not that i want to take this thread off topic, but is cardiff's biggest life sciences company currently GE Heathcare up by j32? It is a sizable base. are there others similar or bigger?

It didn't say - it's a start-up though so doubt it's going be employ significant numbers at this stage. Says that a number of American & swiss scientists are relocating here though, picked Cardiff over Oxford due to investment.

I know it's an unlikely location (worked in a couple of labs before) - just wishful thinking!