Glad to see it in, when is it open for use?

Personally I am a little disappointed the previous glass needle scheme hasn't seen the light of day, mainly because of the prominence the height that project (30 storeys) would have brought to the city centre skyline. I would have rather seen a taller development 20 storeys or more. I am a strong advocate of tall buildings in the right places which I believe bring added prestige to the city and its general image to investors etc. Cardiff kind of missed out on some of these developments due to the onset of the last recession and as a pro-cardiff patriot I am a little narked that Swansea, Wales' second city still has the tallest building in Wales! We need an impressive skyline to stand comparison with some of the major English cities and those we are hoping to compete with in Europe to attract important investment and the right kind of settlers. The likes of Mancherster, Birmingham and dare I say, Bristol have stolen a march on us in the skyline stakes and we have some catching up to do.

Bristol hasn't. Was there on Tuesday, its skyline is pretty non descript. Nice in parts but overall didn't feel ahead of here at all.

WalesOnline is reporting that all of the space in 1 Capital Quarter is at the heads of terms stage (ie under firm offer). Sounds like good news. Also reports Cardiff has made top 10 markets in uk for spec development. Also a good showing as London is probably 4 markets (city, west end, midtown - the silly americanised name for holborn and environs - and docklands). Be good to see further lettings progress and the bbc's final decision.

is "Capital" the new "International" in Cardiff?

If it is, at least it's a bit more grounded in reality!

Is that pic of the day showing work starting on number 2?

Thanks Paul

I know I move into dreaming territory here, but it looks like this new bridge, and the new pathway running from it, aligns perfectly with the small bridge over the dock feeder canal to the south, separated only by the road and parking for the Novotel. It would be nice if the parking and public realm could be reconfigured a little to open up an small avenue along that vista, giving better pedestrian and cycle links from the city center to the canal and the Schooner way residential area.

A few bits of news in today's Western Mail

- work will start next month on Number 2

- The plots for student housing have been sold (I think) to Viridis Real Estates who will develop the student accomodation ( 580 rooms)

- The bridge was being opened today

- Number 1 was also being unveiled today

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-news/capital-quarter-cardiff-mixed-use-7316952

Good news kyle. My only comment relates to the gallery picture 6 of 8. It looks like central capital square is being built in a forest

I'm not sure what the third piece of good news is - the opening of a bridge? (surely that isn't news - we knew that was going to happen!).

I like the design of No. 2 - its functional and a little boxy but its got a certain solidness and simplicity to it. It looks like the kind of office a mid-size city should be aiming for in its edge-of-prime areas (unlike Driscoll buildings or Fusion Point or the Peacocks building). The student accomodation isn't very exciting but again is solid and simple.

And when I was in Cardiff No. 1 looked better than it did in some photos posted here, although not as good as in original renders. Be interesting to see how No. 2 turns out.

Callaghan Square I'm less impressed about. Its just too big for the scale of buildings surrounding it. It lacks life and activity, and ends up feeling pretty windswept and uncared for, even in summer. I think that either:

(a) the Square should be made smaller, and the buildings on the south side brought closer to those on the north side. Or;
(b) something has got to be done to make sure the square itself gets more activity. The render appears to show a small kiosk building. I think we need need more than that. A pop-up food market? (with a few hot food stalls catering to office workers, which would number in the several thousand). A little indoor (glass) seating/dining area as well as outside dining area. If this isn't feasible (lack of demand), could a creche with outdoor play area be built? Handy for all those office workers, and again, would make the square feet less windswept.

I thought callaGhan square was going to be cut in half when the road was reconfigured

My post was flagged as spam so i'll re-post in installments...

1) I think behind the scenes the long term Callaghan Sq plan is still up in the air, with the council still thinking they could put an arena/convention centre there, maybe by including the site of the warehouses on Canal Parade. Still some distance to go on this one.

2) I think the renders of the student flats are quite old and were developed for illustrative purposes of showing off the master plan. So what gets built might look different.

3) Have gone over the bridge now. Good experience, nice and wide, easy to cycle over as the gradient is fine and two bikes can pass when they meet (although I understand it is steeper than advised for full access for wheelchairs/prams etc).

Some nice views across the city, although nothing you wouldnt expect. Quite busy actually with numerous people using it. Whether they were all just passing over for the novelty like I was, or will be regular users, I don't know. The bridge will be even better when there actually is something at either end of it! It still has a slight hint of 'bridge to nowhere' about it.

[Still battling to get my last two lines through the spam filter...]

Maybe bmx-ers and skateboarders will like it

as it is quite fun heading down the spiral

so I hope we don't see any silly 'anti-youth' additions making it less accessible

Pile driving going on right now. Not the ideal day to be sat at home having to listen to it!

Thanks for posting the picture.

It's definitely Number 2 Capital Quarter. So they've finally made a start.

Great news.

There is scope for a station at Capital Quarter, maybe on a Newport to Central line. Once up and running it could host a fair number of people so it could be part of an Eastern metro line with further stops at Pengam Green, Rumney etc

There could even potentially be two stations; a high level station on the Queen Street to Central line that would be very useful for university students going to the nearby Atrium campus, as well as for commuters to Capital Quarter that live north of the city centre, and a low level station on the Central to Newport line which would be good for commuters that live outside of Cardiff.

Sort of like Heath Low level and Heath High Level, but it could act like an interchange station with a direct path connecting the two.

(Though perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself )

There has been mention of a Callaghan Sq metro station, basically where John Street is (and where that warehouse was quietly demolished not so long ago). It is not impossible to think that this could straddle the bay line and bridge the canal to also serve Capital Quarter.

It's not clear to me exactly how this proposed station would work. I imagine it would involve some reconfiguration of the junction, as it will cost £44m according to the article below. Work starting in 4-5 years time, if we are to believe the hype. That's about the same price as the new Admiral building, so it is no small undertaking.


My completely unfounded speculation is that the council will build their all new fancy head office on this site once they have sold off the existing plot on the bay, building the new Callaghan Square metro station underneath it, possibly straddling the reconfigured bay line with a frontage onto the canal facing Capital Quarter, thereby giving access to the new station from Capital Quarter over a canal bridge and better linking Capital Quarter and Callaghan Sq as a continuous district. At least that's what I guessed Goodway wanted in the previous council. It's not a bad idea if the sums add up.


http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/south-wales-metro-system-first-6718872

Hey, if I had my way we would have sub-surface metro lines going under the city centre:

A line under Queen Street & Newport Road then down Cowbridge Rd, and a line under Working St (connected to Cardiff Central) then up North Rd, with a nice little underground interchange station by the castle. (With few other smaller stations dotted around) The Tyne and Wear metro has underground bits, why can't the South Wales metro have some as well?

(And... I guess I've just used up the Welsh Government's entire budget with that )