Atlantic Wharf

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Atlantic Wharf and Bute East Dock Residents of Bute East Dock - geograph.org.uk - 1470975.jpg
Atlantic Wharf and Bute East Dock

Atlantic Wharf (Welsh : Glanfa Iwerydd) is a southern area of the city of Cardiff, Wales. It is primarily an area of new houses and apartments located on the west side of the disused Bute East Dock and to the east of Lloyd George Avenue. It also includes a number of refurbished dock warehouses, modern hotels, the Red Dragon Centre and Cardiff Council's County Hall. Atlantic Wharf lies in the Butetown electoral division of Cardiff and the Cardiff South and Penarth constituency for the UK Parliament and the Senedd.

Contents

History

The Bute East Dock (originally called the East Bute Dock) was constructed to ease pressure on the existing Bute Dock in the 1850s. It was opened by the 12-year-old Third Marquess of Bute on 14 September 1859. [1] The new dock was 1,310 m in length and up to 152m wide. [1] It was surrounded by railway sidings and large warehouses. Eventually the Bute East Dock was closed in 1970. The railway sidings were removed. [2]

Only after 1980 did redevelopment begin around the disused dock. [3] The Cardiff Bay Development Corporation was set up in the late 1980s to drive regeneration of the Docks area. [3] Atlantic Wharf grew to include housing, new businesses, hotels and the conversion of three large derelict dock warehouses in the close vicinity of Bute East Dock. [3] In 1988 the County Council built a new council headquarters building at Atlantic Wharf to reinforce the regeneration initiatives. It has been described as a "remarkable gesture of faith [by] the South Glamorgan County Council". [4]

A new multiplex cinema and leisure complex was built nearby, known as Atlantic Wharf Leisure Village (now the Red Dragon Centre). Collingdon Road was landscaped and redeveloped to form a mile-long boulevard to Cardiff Bay. Work was completed in 2000 and the road was renamed Lloyd George Avenue.

21st century

With approximately 1,500 houses and flats and no representative of its own on Cardiff Council, in 2016 the Atlantic Wharf Residents’ Association demanded that Atlantic Wharf be made into a separate electoral ward. [5] There are also plans to regenerate the area with a large mixed-use development situated on a 30 acres (12 ha) site; [6] this would include new council offices, waterfront apartments, a replacement leisure complex, hotel and "immersive" arts theatre to sit alongside a new 15,000 capacity indoor arena. [7] [8]

'Little Ireland'

The district of Newtown was constructed on the initiative of the Marquess of Bute in the mid-1800s to provide housing for the labourers who were building the new docks. The area consisted of six streets in the far north edge of what is now Atlantic Wharf. The streets were occupied mainly by Irish immigrants from Cork. [9] Over 100 years after its creation, the buildings of Newtown were subject to compulsory purchase and were demolished in 1970 for redevelopment. [9] The area eventually became an industrial estate next to the mainline railway.

Notable buildings

The unused quayside crane in Atlantic Wharf. Quayside crane, Bute East Dock, Atlantic Wharf, Cardiff.jpg
The unused quayside crane in Atlantic Wharf.

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Holder Mathias Architects Limited, often simply known as Holder Mathias or Holder Mathias Architects, is an architectural firm and private limited company based in London, England. The firm was founded in 1969, in Cardiff, Wales, by architects Peter Mathias and Tim Holder as the Holder and Mathias Partnership. It has been responsible for the Atlantic Wharf development, the eastern portion of the Cardiff Bay redevelopment project, including Crickhowell House and the Red Dragon Centre, and other projects in the United Kingdom and Europe.

References

  1. 1 2 Richards, John CARDIFF: A Maritime History. Tempus Publishing, 2005, p.47-48
  2. Richards, John CARDIFF: A Maritime History. Tempus Publishing, 2005, p.147
  3. 1 2 3 Ungersma, M. (Ed.) CARDIFF: Rebirth of a Capital. Cardiff Council, 2005, p.88-90
  4. Newman, J. The Buildings of Wales: Glamorgan University of Wales Press (1995), p.263
  5. Huw Silk (2 November 2016) "Residents complain Cardiff Bay is under-represented on city council", South Wales Echo , page 9.
  6. Barry, Sion (3 May 2023). "Plans to transform Cardiff Bay take step forward". Business Live. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  7. Barry, Sion (13 August 2024). "Major update on plans for 15,000-seater Cardiff indoor arena". Wales Online. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  8. "The new theatre Wales Millennium Centre wants to build in Cardiff Bay". Wales Online. 5 November 2024. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  9. 1 2 Miller, Claire "Irish coach service to honour city's lost 'Little Ireland' community with plaque" South Wales Echo 6 October 2011, pp. 26-27
  10. Gathering the Jewells www.gtj.org.uk Warehouse at Collingdon Road, Bute East Dock, Cardiff (viewed 2011-10-06)
  11. 1 2 Britishlistedbuildings.co.uk Listed Buildings in Butetown, Cardiff, Wales (viewed 2011-10-06)
  12. Engineering-timelines.com 'Spillers' Cardiff Mill, site of' Archived 4 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine (viewed 2011-10-06)
  13. "Bridge over Dock Feeder Canal". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  14. "Bridge over Dock Feeder Canal". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  15. Red Dragon Centre website 'All about the Red Dragon Centre Archived 3 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine ' (viewed 2011-10-06)

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