Cardiff’s changing skyline and how it might look in another decade

Ted Peskett Local Democracy Reporter

As one of Europe’s fastest growing cities, the skyline of Cardiff has changed dramatically during the past 10 years – and things look to be continuing that way for the foreseeable future.

As you approach the city, you can see it is dominated by a range of new skyscrapers – either completed or still under construction.

Judging by the number of plans which have been approved recently, the city’s skyline will continue to be added to in the coming years.

Tallest buildings in Wales contenders

Two buildings which are yet to be built in the city centre will be contenders for the tallest buildings in Wales – one proposed to stand at 42 storeys and another at 35.

Work appears to be progressing well to develop the former Brains Brewery site behind Cardiff Central railway station into two high-rise buildings comprising hundreds of apartments, and elsewhere in the city work is just starting on other major schemes.

Construction work is underway on the 31-storey tower block at Guildford Crescent after the site was acquired by Lloyds Living.

The demolition of the site’s historic and much-loved facade sparked an outcry among businesses, residents and local councillors, but approved plans propose to rebuild it as it was.

Other sites seem to lie dormant, with little to no construction activity going on at the moment despite plans having been approved more than a year ago.

Here is a look at some of the major high-rise developments which have been developed across Cardiff and the ones that are yet to to be completed.

Guildford Crescent

Construction is now well underway at Guildford Crescent.

Lloyds Living recently announced it acquired the site from construction firm Galliford Try to create 272 apartments.

The make up of the apartment block will be 140 one-bedroom apartments and 132 two-bedroom apartments.

There will also be a gym, lounge and game areas, a roof terrace, bike storage and retail space on site.

GT Guildford Crescent Limited applied to Cardiff Council in 2023 to knock down the facade of the buildings at Guildford Crescent.

However, it went ahead with demolition without having acquired permission, which led to the council ordering all demolition works to cease.

At the time, Cardiff Council said it would consider further steps. In July, the council decided not to take any formal enforcement action.

Instead, it argued the most appropriate form of action which could be taken, requiring the developers to rebuild the facade, was something already being proposed in the application for the site.

Harlech Court

An application for the redevelopment of the Harlech Court site into a 30-storey tower block will soon be made to the council.

A pre-application consultation on the proposed development closed on November 1, with developers Draycott Group now set to apply for planning permission for a residential tower with hundreds of apartments and commercial space.

The pre-application consultation notice posted outside the construction site, where Harlech Court is currently being demolished, states the proposal will also include an “external residents amenity area” and a public square.

Cardiff Council gave the go ahead to the demolition of Harlech Court in July.

The building on Bute Terrace was once the home of the popular bar Porter’s, and offices.

On Draycott Group’s website, the developer states its ambition for Harlech Court is turn the site into an apartment building made up of about 350 units.

It also states the height of the building will be about 30 storeys, but some news stories report it could be as tall as 35 storeys. This would make it the tallest building in Wales provided another contender for this title, planned for a site nearby, isn’t built first.

Custom House Street

Cardiff Council granted planning permission for a 42-storey building on Custom House Street in 2016, but work on the development is still not complete.

Developers Watkin Jones said in June 2023 it was considering the future development potential of the site and work was on hold due to “challenging wider market circumstances”.

The latest publicly available record on Cardiff Council’s website relating to the site is an application for a lawful development certificate, which was approved by the council in 2021.

This confirmed work had started on the development in the form of the installation of 10m of drainage and a manhole.

When plans for the tower block were revealed, the proposal was for it to provide student accommodation in the form of 447 bed spaces. The plans also proposed space for a retail unit.

Central Square

One part of Cardiff which has arguably seen the biggest change of all is the area now known as Central Square.

The site opposite Cardiff Central railway station has been transformed into a centre of modern high-rise buildings, either seen as a fitting first point of entry for people visiting the capital city or a soulless concrete jungle.

Whatever peoples’ view on architecture, the site has undoubtedly changed a lot with a number of tall buildings now on the site which was formerly occupied by Cardiff’s old bus station and St David’s House.

At Central Square currently is the BBC Cymru Wales headquarters; the newly-opened bus station and transport hub; the UK Government hub; the Cardiff University school of journalism, media and culture building; and the One Central Square offices.

Plans were approved in June 2023 to add to this with a 35-storey building which will be made up of more than 360 apartments.

Bluecastle Capital recently acquired the site from Rightacres Property and will now take the plans for the building forward.

Gramercy Tower

The development of a new block of apartments in the centre of Cardiff has recently been completed and is welcoming people in for viewings.

Standing at 28 storeys, Gramercy Tower on Curran Road is currently the tallest building in Cardiff.

Before it was completed, the Zenith and Bridge Street Exchange student accommodation buildings were the tallest, standing at 26 storeys and about 85m in height. The Bridge Street Exchange building was opened in 2018.

Another skyscraper, proposed for where Tiger Tiger used to be on Greyfriars Road, which will also be 28 storeys in height was given planning permission in April.

The accommodation for students will be made up of 48 flats and 384 studio apartments.

Gramercy Tower is made up of 188 build-to-rent apartments and also includes a gym, a lounge for residents, co-working space, two roof terraces and bike storage.

The Vita building

The Vita student accommodation building opened in 2022. It is 18 storeys high and also has its own gym, coffee lounge and study area.

However, the site was originally intended for a high-rise building containing offices.

The building which used to be there, Bradley Court, was the former home of law firm Blake Morgan.

Select Property Group acquired the site in 2017 and plans for the Vita accommodation block were approved by Cardiff Council in 2018.

Zenith tower

The Zenith tower block is another high rise in the city which was built as student accommodation.

This building, at 26 storeys, is one of the tallest in the city and was built on Herbert Street, Atlantic Wharf after planning permission was approved by Cardiff Council in 2015.

An application by the developers, Fusion Cardiff Capital Quarter LLP, to change the use of the building to serviced apartments for professionals until the end of August 2020 was approved in 2019.

It later asked for this permission to be extended to September 2021.

At the time, the developers argued the change of use was needed because of the impact which the Covid-19 pandemic was having on the student accommodation sector.

The council gave permission to extend the change of use, but no further extensions were applied for.

More recently, a planning application was made to turn one of the commercial units on site into more student accommodation.

A covering letter attached to the application states that since plans for the 675-apartment block were granted, the unit was never occupied.

The building also features a gym, cinema and a sky bar.

Former Brains Brewery

The two high-rise apartment buildings approved for where the old Brains Brewery used to be are still taking shape.

Cardiff Council’s planning committee gave the go ahead for work to commence on the development in June 2022.

Once completed, the Central Quay buildings will provide more than 700 apartments and 2,000sqm of floor space between them.

The old Brains Brewery brewhouse chimney stack will also be retained as recognition of the site’s heritage.

One of the buildings will be made up of 402 apartments and will include 810sqm of commercial space.

The other will contain 316 apartments and 1,319sqm of commercial space.

Outside of the two buildings, the development site itself will include two public squares and more than 50 new trees.

Premier Inn

If you were walking southwards along St Mary Street for the first time in 10 years, one of the first things you might notice is the huge black building which now occupies the skyline in front of you.

The 20-storey Premier Inn hotel was granted planning permission in 2017 and was built just behind an old building called Custom House.

The facade of the grade II-listed building, built in the mid-1800s, has been retained.

Work on the hotel, which contains 248 bedrooms, temporarily stopped in 2021 after Llanelli-based construction firm WRW Construction collapsed.

However, development got back underway in November 2022 and the building was completed.

The hotel also has a restaurant and bar inside.

Ty Admiral

Admiral started moving hundreds of employees from Capital Tower to its new Cardiff city centre offices in 2014.

The building is 14 storeys high and covers more than 22,000sqm

Construction started on the insurance company’s headquarters in 2012 and was described at the time as the largest pre-let office project in the city.

At the time of moving in, Admiral had agreed a 25-year lease for the building.