Skyscraper set to be the tallest building in Wales approved for construction
Kieran Molloy, Local democracy reporter
A 50-storey tower which is set to be the tallest building in Wales has been approved for construction.
The skyscraper will have a maximum height of 178m and 528 apartments, this surpasses the current tallest building in Wales, the 29-storey Tower, Meridian Quay in Swansea – which stands at 107m.
If built to the maximum height, it would be the second tallest building in the UK outside of London.
The tallest building is the 200m-tall Deansgate Square South Tower in Manchester.
The new Welsh skyscraper will be built in Central Square, within a short walk from Cardiff Central Station, Principality Stadium and the BBC Cymru HQ.
The applicant is REAP 3 Limited, a subsidiary of BlueCastle Capital.
Planning documents read: “We have taken tonal references from the city skyline, civic buildings and the adjacent buildings within Central Square.
“White Portland Stone features on several of Cardiff’s significant civic buildings and many of the taller city centre buildings feature light tonal façade elements. Our façade and material proposals must sit comfortably within the city context and also provide a well mannered façade when viewed from a distance.”
The architects in charge of the high-rise, 5plus Architects, said particular focus has been given to maintaining the long-term appearance of the building, especially in regard to Wales’ frequent rainfall.
Parts of the façade will feature “subtle references to Welsh Celtic symbols” which draw inspiration from the country’s “rich visual heritage and identity”.
During the debate to approve the super-structure, Cllr Sean Driscoll called the development an “exclamation mark on the city”.
Other councillors expressed similar positive sentiments to the building.
Cllr Michael Michael said: “I see nothing but good in this application”.
A planning officer for the council, Simon Gilbert, called the new skyscraper “akin to the Flat Iron building in New York”,
During the meeting, members discussed concerns from Cadw, a Welsh Government group charged with protecting historic buildings and structures, that the view of the high-rise from Cardiff Castle would have a negative impact on the heritage asset.
However, many councillors disagreed with this assessment.
The skyscraper is proposed to have lounges, dining rooms, co-working areas, cinema, gym and a spa within the first three floors.
A two-storey pavilion is also proposed next to the skyscraper.
Rightacres submitted plans for a 35-storey tower block on the same site in 2021 and these were approved by the council.
New plans for the 50-storey high development were submitted by REAP 3 Limited in 2025.
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That building will no doubt cast a large shadow on to the Millenium Stadium ground which won’t do the grass any good.
At midday on the winter solstice the shadow would be about 680 metres long or 0.4 of a mile. So yes in theory but think they use lamps most of the time but must effect the solar panels they were putting on the stadium roof and housing in Riverside.
And only if the winter sun is shining, of course.
Isn’t the design of the building more reminiscent of an Excel spreadsheet than any Welsh Celtic symbols?
Well put.
A planning officer for the council, Simon Gilbert, called the new skyscraper “akin to the Flat Iron building in New York”
Please, who do you think you’re kidding mate?
The Flat Iron building is better known by New Yorkers as “23 skidoo” due to the wind turbulence it causes on 5th Avenue and Broadway. Perhaps his enthusiasm is due to such a building having significant effect on the nearby Millennium stadium, both for shadow and wind.
When the original artists impressions for the Millenium Stadium came out in the 1990s there was always shown a viewing tower/restaurant where this building is proposed. Perhaps he sees it as the completion of the “grand ” plan.
Somehow doubt the ho-poloi get to see the view.
I don’t travel to Cardiff so much these days, I prefer to go elsewhere, but one good feature of Cardiff is the lack of such skyscraper buildings. Pity.
Carbuncle on the landscape. Nothing to be proud of.
Because what Cardiff really needs right now is yet another bleedin’ eyesore
One thing that we know for certain is that there is no vision whatsoever for our capital city. Trueni.
The biggest disaster was in the 1960s when they allowed the ruins of Greyfriars to be wiped off the face of Cardiff and built what is now called Capital Tower (Pearl Assurance). Most of the others built in the last couple of decades have followed a corridor following the railway or down the old industrial area south along the Taff. However you are right in that the quality is poor, stucco that turns black for example. Plus as these buildings are now mostly residential is it the correct human scale, blocks of flats 5-8 floors high, as on the continent,… Read more »
Destroying Greyfriars would still have been a mistake if the new building had been 8 storeys high.
‘Megalithomania’…RIP John Michell…late of the Zodiac Cafe…Glastonbury
Who is kidding who? There are no sound arguments for this building apart from of course it will make some folks very rich. A further death knell sounding for our capital city
The sound argument is more homes in a housing crisis. They might not be homes to suit you but those that do prefer to wake up to views over Bannau Brycheiniog may free up homes that do suit you.
But will it have a public viewing gallery at the top.
What Cardiff needs is a higher quality of repair and maintenance in its ageing housing stock in areas like Cathays, Splott, Canton etc. Not necessarily a huge landmark building like this. The most elegant buildings in Cardiff are often no more than two or three storeys high. One wonders how this application sailed through the planning process so easily…
Just awful.
This whole area is already a nasty, soulless, concrete and glass wasteland and very windy. it’s an un-human-friendly environment
The tower block will just make it even worse.