Outdoor swimming pool plans for Cardiff Bay stalled

Ted Peskett, local democracy reporter

There are still no signs of progress on plans to transform a historic part of Cardiff Bay into an outdoor swimming pool and sauna attraction.

The new vision for the Mount Stuart Graving Docks at Cardiff Bay was first unveiled in December 2022.

Nordic Urban, the Finnish company behind the plans, proposed heated and non-heated floating swimming pools along with a sauna, changing rooms, a restaurant and bar.

In April 2024, the firm told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that they still “very much” intended for the development to go ahead.

Planning

However, there has been no sign of a planning being submitted to Cardiff Council yet and we did not receive a response from Nordic Urban on contacting them for an update.

A Nordic Urban spokesperson said in April 2024: “We very much intend for the development to go ahead.

“During the last year we have worked on the various necessary contracts and studied the preconditions for design further.

“This has taken us slightly longer than we anticipated, but has to be done before entering into the next phase of the project.”

The company already has an outdoor swimming and sauna attraction in Helsinki and plans to develop similar sites in other major cities like Stockholm, Oslo, New York and Tallinn.

In-principle agreement

Cardiff Council cabinet members have already given their approval to an in-principle agreement to lease land at Cardiff Bay to Nordic Urban for the development.

Nordic Urban states on its website: “Nordic Urban’s aim is to breathe life into the currently little-used historic site by providing residents and visitors unique water-related experiences – all 365 days of the year.”

They said the preliminary facility offering would also include “ample outdoor seating areas”, multi-purpose spaces for indoor events and wellness programming, and access to water sports activities.

The Mount Stuart Graving Docks in Cardiff Bay were part of the Mount Stuart Shipbuilding Yard and underwent several changes over the years.

It was permanently filled with water when Cardiff Bay became a fresh water lake in 2001 after the creation of the Cardiff Bay Barrage.

If it is developed, the transformation of the Mount Stuart docks will mark another major change in urban landscape of Cardiff Bay.

Atlantic Wharf

Groundworks for the new 15,000 capacity indoor arena planned for Atlantic Wharf is now well underway.

Accompanying that development will be a new public square, hotels, offices and a museum.

County Hall will eventually be demolished, with the land it sits on expected to be turned into flats, and a new Cardiff Council headquarters will be built nearby.

Connecting it all to the city centre will be a new tram line taking passengers between Cardiff Central Railway Station and Cardiff Bay Station.