New 29-storey apartment block planned for Cardiff’s Guildford Crescent

Alex Seabrook, local democracy reporter

Developers want to build a 29-storey apartment tower on Guildford Crescent in Cardiff.

Guildford Crescent was mostly demolished in 2019 leaving just the facade of the old buildings. The small street in the city centre was home to restaurants Madeira and Thai House, as well as the popular music venue Gwdihŵ.

More than 1,000 people marched after plans to demolish the street were revealed, as part of a campaign to save Guildford Crescent and Gwdihŵ, which also included a petition signed by 20,000 people.

The company Galliford Try is now in the early stages of applying for planning permission to build a 262-apartment tower on the street.

It has asked Cardiff council’s planning department whether it needs an environmental impact assessment because of the size of the proposed development. In a letter, which was made public, the council’s head of planning said they didn’t need one.

The developers haven’t yet applied for planning permission so few details of the plans are currently available. But at 29 storeys, the apartment tower on Guildford Crescent would be one of the tallest buildings in Cardiff.

The wider area to the east of the city centre is already set to be completely revamped as part of the council’s vision for a ‘Canal Quarter’. The plans would see the old dock feeder canal dug up and reopened to help prevent flooding.

Work is due to start soon on reopening the old canal further up Churchill Way near to Guildford Crescent.