Historic Welsh landmark set for major repairs after years of leaks

Richard Youle, Local Democracy Reporter

A historic civic building known for its striking architecture is finally set to receive major repairs after persistent leaks and water damage raised concerns.

Roofs at Swansea’s leak-prone Guildhall are to be replaced and windows exposed to the prevailing winds repaired.

Four sections of roof above the upper courts, lower Brangwyn and north block will be stripped back and have a type of reinforced bitumen system installed along with tapered insulation to create a slope to avoid water ponding and getting inside.

Councillors on Swansea’s planning committee approved a listed building application submitted by the authority.

Councillors were also keen to know if a leaky area of roof by the clock tower had been fixed because they said water had been travelling down inside, leading to draped plastic sheeting and buckets being put in place in the main foyer for a long time.

Cllr Mike Lewis said he’d been to the top of the clock tower last year and that the roof fabric inside was “bubbling up” ,and that walking on it was “like walking on a squidgy water slide”.

Cllr Allan Jeffery said the draped sheeting and buckets on the foyer steps didn’t “really present a good image”, although they have since been removed.

Challenging 

A council officer said the in-house building services team maintained the Guildhall and looked to prioritise repairs when problems arose and the budget allowed.

He said the clock tower was challenging in terms of identifying where water was coming in, whether it could ever be fully stopped from getting in, and whether it was better to collect it inside or stop it on the outside.

“I know there has been some rectifications done to some of those roof areas, so it is very much something that is in hand,” said the officer, who isn’t in the building services team. “It is something that is being actively looked at and addressed.”

He added that the new roofing being installed at the four areas relevant to the planning application was guaranteed and robust.

Windows mainly at the south-west facing end of the Guildhall are to be repaired on and off-site to make them more weatherproof.

The Portland stone Guildhall with its Art Deco-style clock tower was built between 1930 and 1934 and is home to hundreds of council staff.

It was grade one listed in 1994 “as the most important building in Wales of its period, with a particularly and virtually unaltered sequence of public spaces and as an outstanding example of the work of an architect of particular significance to Wales”, a heritage impact assessment commissioned by the council said.

The committee’s approval will now be referred to heritage body Cadw for consideration.

Speaking after the meeting, a council spokesman said the clock tower works were continuing.

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