Wales’ tallest building
Cardiff Bay looks set to become the home of Wales’ tallest building soon, with the planned development of ‘Bay Pointe’, an ultra modern, 33 storey apartment block, standing at an impressive 403ft.
The ten buildings of Bay Pointe will between them add 1,800 new flats to the City’s waterfront, which has seen unprecedented development from its former days as Tiger Bay, to a very modern looking area of Cardiff, housing restaurants, hotels, shopping and since devolution, the Welsh Assembly Government building, the ‘senedd’ too.
Whilst being big for Cardiff, Bay Pointe doesn’t measure up to skyscraper competition nationally, with the UK’s tallest building, Canary Wharf in London, standing at 771ft tall.
Some have been very critical of the colossal development, and claim that there is simply not enough demand for so many new flats in Cardiff Bay. By taking a walk around the area, it soon becomes very clear that there are hundreds of flats and apartments, but no-one around. People bought in Cardiff Bay with the hope of letting, but have been let down by low demand.
Some claim prices are down by as much as 10% over the last year. Planners need to exercise extreme caution when granting permission for such developments,
because without doing so, they are in danger of undoing all the work put into turning around a tired and dilapidated part of Cardiff. Houses empty for too long are going to create a knock-on effect and eventually lead to decline again.
The Bay Pointe development:
BBC News – Wales’ tallest building
Too many flats?
BBC News – Cities building too many flats
On a lighter, and more University of Glamorgan related note, students who live in Ty Pont Haern can sleep sound in the knowledge that they live in the 5th tallest bulding in Cardiff. The kind people at skyscrapercity.com have ranked the top ten for us, along with a lot of planned developments:
