# Some pictures of St Davids 2



## Ranbay (Nov 5, 2008)

just incase anyone cared or anything...


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## Ranbay (Nov 5, 2008)

And this is being built on Cahrles St ?






and here is some sort of drug deal near the job center


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## editor (Nov 5, 2008)

It's as ugly as a badger's arse alright.


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## Ranbay (Nov 5, 2008)

Unlike this which i kinda like, the new Uni


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## Udo Erasmus (Nov 5, 2008)

You have a helicopter?


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## Ranbay (Nov 5, 2008)

Taken from the roof of my office like..


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## lewislewis (Nov 5, 2008)

Great pictures!


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## bendeus (Nov 5, 2008)

Brilliant! All that empty retail space waiting to be vandalised as the recession ensures that there aren't many tenants.

Thank god for more shops and luxury flats! Cardiff really needed them


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## Ranbay (Nov 5, 2008)

you just know all the large stores on Queen St will want to move into this, then we will end up with loads of pound shops and £5 a t-shirt shops up and down Queen st


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## bendeus (Nov 5, 2008)

Maybe some of the businesses thrown off Caroline Street could relocate there. Like that funny barber's with the porno salon in the back.

Hurray for the seedification of Queen Street!


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## King Biscuit Time (Nov 5, 2008)

B0B2oo9 said:


> s and £5 a t-shirt shops up and down Queen st



I hope they've got that brilliant one with Bart Simpson pissing on an England Flag, and the one that says 'I support two teams, Wales, and whoever England are playing'.

If the rents on Queen Street get cheap enough I'm seriously going to move back to Cardiff and open KBT's world of pink glittery cowboy hats. I'll make a mint!


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## Threshers_Flail (Nov 5, 2008)

Its going to be fucking horrific. Why cant we leave all the huge shopping complexes to other identikit cities?

Better still let them build one in the valleys, more space for building and the investment would be needed.


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## Gromit (Nov 5, 2008)

Jamie Oliver is going to have a resturant there.

Along with designers Hugo Boss and Kurt Geiger, as well as shirt-maker TM Lewin and clothes shop Reiss.

Somehow I don't think its going to be most Urbs' cup o earl grey.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/w...-oliver-to-open-cardiff-diner-91466-22185687/


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## PAD1OH (Nov 5, 2008)

Threshers_Flail said:


> Its going to be fucking horrific. Why cant we leave all the huge shopping complexes to other identikit cities?
> 
> Better still let them build one in the valleys, more space for building and the investment would be needed.



Myself and the girlfriend were talking about this the other day. OK it is still under construction but already it is looking pretty bad.

The High-rises going up on Bute Terrace are the worst (mid-high value) residential towers I have ever seen in an urban setting in the past 20 years. shocking!!

The cladding on the shopping developments on the other side is pretty offensive two. That metal cladding on the library!!!!!!! what the fuck! We couldn't tell if it was copper that will go green (which isn't bad) but at the moment it looks well tacky and there has been a really poor job of finishing it.

The incongruity (height wise) of that building to the others on mill lane is a bit off putting too. Although we'll have to wait till the others are finished to get an idea of the grading. etc.


There was an opportunity to do something unique.... bit of a mess overall.


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## PAD1OH (Nov 5, 2008)

Marius said:


> http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/w...-oliver-to-open-cardiff-diner-91466-22185687/




it's funny that they include a Wagamamma and a gourmet Burger place. These are already in the bay. Ok they may get bigger space but it underlines the lack of imagination and creativity in the whole development.


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## ddraig (Nov 6, 2008)

PAD1OH said:


> it's funny that they include a Wagamamma and a gourmet Burger place. These are already in the bay. Ok they may get bigger space but it underlines the lack of imagination and creativity in the whole development.



yeah! an dthey champion it as 'exiting and exclusinve news' front page of the paper etc

ITS A FUCKING CHAIN ffs


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## Brockway (Nov 6, 2008)

PAD1OH said:


> That metal cladding on the library!!!!!!! what the fuck! We couldn't tell if it was copper that will go green (which isn't bad) but at the moment it looks well tacky and there has been a really poor job of finishing it.



If I had to guess what that building was from the front I'd say: municipal swimming pool circa 1973. I prefer the gold/copper view from the back. Some of the cladding looks a bit buckled in places, mind. 

The tackiest part of the building, though, is the red lettering on the front. Looks sh*te. One good point: the new library blocks out the view of the even uglier Holiday Inn.

As for the St David's 2 - it's blocking out the sun. When you sit down for a coffee now at the Hayes Island snack bar, it is always winter. Brrrrrr.


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## Brockway (Nov 6, 2008)

B0B2oo9 said:


> you just know all the large stores on Queen St will want to move into this, then we will end up with loads of pound shops and £5 a t-shirt shops up and down Queen st



There's already a Spar on the corner.


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## Ranbay (Nov 6, 2008)

yup, and the halloween/crimbo shop the other end... 

soon 4 lights for a pound and fake watches will be all you can buy on queen st, or coffee from one of the 4 fucking starbucks.


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## spacemonkey (Nov 6, 2008)

B0B2oo9 said:


> yup, and the halloween/crimbo shop the other end...
> 
> soon 4 lights for a pound and fake watched will be all you can buy on queen st, or coffee from one of the 4 fucking starbucks.


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## PAD1OH (Nov 6, 2008)

while we are on the subject of fuck-ups........

what happened the M&S building on queen street? Wasn't the building an older but nice front? How where they allowed to put a bit glass box infront of it?????


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## Threshers_Flail (Nov 6, 2008)

PAD1OH said:


> while we are on the subject of fuck-ups........
> 
> what happened the M&S building on queen street? Wasn't the building an older but nice front? How where they allowed to put a bit glass box infront of it?????



I know I saw that today. A nice looking oldie store front covered in fucking glass! Very short sighted decision, how they are allowed to do it I don't know.


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## Clint Iguana (Nov 6, 2008)

B0B2oo9 said:


> Taken from the roof of my office like..



do you work for british gas?


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## Ranbay (Nov 6, 2008)

Clint Iguana said:


> do you work for british gas?



nope, but they where taken from the roof of their roof


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## ddraig (Nov 6, 2008)

Threshers_Flail said:


> I know I saw that today. A nice looking oldie store front covered in fucking glass! Very short sighted decision, how they are allowed to do it I don't know.



costing millions as well 
they had teams of temp cleaners brushing the dust off clothes during the refit inside when they;d taken the ceilings out and were still open


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## Brockway (Nov 6, 2008)

In the background of the new university building photograph - you can see Richey Edwards's flat. Or at least the apartment block he was living in when he disappeared.


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## lewislewis (Nov 7, 2008)

bendeus said:


> Brilliant! All that empty retail space waiting to be vandalised as the recession ensures that there aren't many tenants.
> 
> Thank god for more shops and luxury flats! Cardiff really needed them



46% full so far and alot of them are duplicates of Queen Street stores apparently.


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## Badgers (Nov 7, 2008)

editor said:


> It's as ugly as a badger's arse alright.



Easy


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## remedial_gash (Nov 7, 2008)

Nice one luvs, let's wipe out anything that made Cardiff different from the other identikit cities!

I suppose we still have our arcades, but if everyone's in that fucking monstrosity, who'll visit?

A two tier shitty? 

Yay!

Gash
x


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## Ranbay (Nov 28, 2008)

some more pcitures, bored today


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## Ranbay (Nov 28, 2008)




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## Ranbay (Nov 28, 2008)




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## bendeus (Nov 28, 2008)

With all the grim reports coming out of the retail sector, Paul Guy and co must be shitting themselves right now. If high street stores are going to be looking to reduce the amount of square footage they're selling out of, and all high street stores already have a footprint in Cardiff, what the fuck are they going to do with all that space? Along with the Bayside flats (which have apparently suffered the biggest depreciation in value of any properties in the UK) this could go down as the prize turkey to end all prize turkeys.


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## Ranbay (Nov 28, 2008)




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## bendeus (Nov 28, 2008)

Pretty impressive in scale, mind. When's completion?


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## Ranbay (Nov 28, 2008)

and some other random shots from my roof init...

my new office, from next year, Callaghan Square


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## ddraig (Nov 28, 2008)

bendeus said:


> Pretty impressive in scale, mind. When's completion?



next year sometime


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## Ranbay (Nov 28, 2008)

where all the naughty boys go


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## Ranbay (Nov 28, 2008)




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## Ranbay (Nov 28, 2008)

anyone think i could make this gap and get into the penthouse in landmark place?


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## llantwit (Nov 28, 2008)

Fuck me, Cardiff's a bit grim, sometimes, innit?!


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## Ranbay (Nov 28, 2008)




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## Ranbay (Nov 28, 2008)




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## milly (Nov 30, 2008)

I think some of those pictures are great, not grim at all. The  British Railway building( i think  it is) is a horrible monstrosity and should have been bulldozed years ago but I don't think the city looks worse than most others.


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## llantwit (Nov 30, 2008)

milly said:


> I think some of those pictures are great, not grim at all. The  British Railway building( i think  it is) is a horrible monstrosity and should have been bulldozed years ago but I don't think the city looks worse than most others.


I dunno, I just get the impression of a real hodge-podge of mundane architectural mis-shapes that shows up post-war planning in Cardiff for the bad joke it was. This is our capital city, and we've wasted every chance we've had to make it something special, integrated, and, well, pleasant.
I love Cardiff, but not for the architecture (apart from a few one-off tiumphs like the stadium, and the Milllennium Centre)


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## fogbat (Nov 30, 2008)

At least they didn't knock down an almost-new library building for no good reaso...

Oh


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## milly (Dec 1, 2008)

llantwit said:


> I dunno, I just get the impression of a real hodge-podge of mundane architectural mis-shapes that shows up post-war planning in Cardiff for the bad joke it was. This is our capital city, and we've wasted every chance we've had to make it something special, integrated, and, well, pleasant.
> I love Cardiff, but not for the architecture (apart from a few one-off tiumphs like the stadium, and the Milllennium Centre)




I suppose I agree with you there mostly but we can console ourselves with some fantastic parks and one of the best civic centres in Europe...........something to be thankful for!


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## Gromit (Dec 1, 2008)

llantwit said:


> I dunno, I just get the impression of a real hodge-podge of mundane architectural mis-shapes that shows up post-war planning in Cardiff for the bad joke it was. This is our capital city, and we've wasted every chance we've had to make it something special, integrated, and, well, pleasant.
> I love Cardiff, but not for the architecture (apart from a few one-off tiumphs like the stadium, and the Milllennium Centre)


 
Its a capital. So what usually happens is if a developer is willing to invest stupid money in a building and creating jobs no one is going to say no.

London is an even greater example of this. If it costs a bundle you can have whatever hideous design you want.


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## PAD1OH (Dec 1, 2008)

llantwit said:


> I dunno, I just get the impression of a real hodge-podge of mundane architectural mis-shapes that shows up post-war planning in Cardiff for the bad joke it was. This is our capital city, and we've wasted every chance we've had to make it something special, integrated, and, well, pleasant.
> I love Cardiff, but not for the architecture (apart from a few one-off tiumphs like the stadium, and the Milllennium Centre)



nail.on.head.


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## spacemonkey (Dec 1, 2008)

Great photos B0B, I think I might start a Cardiff photography thread, inspired by this....


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## teqniq (Dec 1, 2008)

B0B2oo9 said:


> you just know all the large stores on Queen St will want to move into this, then we will end up with loads of pound shops and £5 a t-shirt shops up and down Queen st


In a nutshell. 

It's awful. I walked down past the King's cross and looked up at it today. It's _really_ awful. No light, no proper consultation, no chance. 

I wished they'd had a park there.

It just seems like 'jobs for the boys' (aka the construction industry) to me.

Btw they're pretty cool pix though.


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## milly (Dec 2, 2008)

My lodger is a scaffolder on the St David's 2 project and says that hardly any of the shops have been let out yet. Also, they are  behind schedule but have been laying lots of people off what with the current economic situation.


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## Ranbay (Dec 22, 2008)

some from ages ago, taken on mobile so not the best


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## spacemonkey (Dec 22, 2008)

milly said:


> My lodger is a scaffolder on the St David's 2 project and says that hardly any of the shops have been let out yet. Also, they are  behind schedule but have been laying lots of people off what with the current economic situation.


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## poisondwarf (Dec 23, 2008)

I was only thinking yesterday exactly that it is a white elephant indeed!


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## lewislewis (Dec 23, 2008)

milly said:


> My lodger is a scaffolder on the St David's 2 project and says that hardly any of the shops have been let out yet. Also, they are  behind schedule but have been laying lots of people off what with the current economic situation.



I read that they'd let out half of the units so far. I'm not sure where all the shoppers will come from to keep all these now outlets afloat financially.


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## ddraig (Feb 6, 2009)

*scheme scale model*

HELP!

can someone please confirm and maybe even provide eveidence that i am not going mad.

i remember a news item on a large (HUGE) model of the St Davids2 development on an industrial estate hidden away.

i'm being called a nutter in the office as i can't find any links or prove it 

not going mad i hope and one of my colleagues reckons it was true as it was used to show retailers about

thanks


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## Ranbay (Feb 8, 2009)

Cant help sorry, but was told the other day there are offering retailers the first 4 years rent free !!!!


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## ddraig (Mar 25, 2009)

heard about a 'Poundland' shop applying to go in a premises in Queen st today!

great 

so it begins...


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## Brockway (Mar 26, 2009)

ddraig said:


> heard about a 'Poundland' shop applying to go in a premises in Queen st today!
> 
> great
> 
> so it begins...



The Poundland is going to be next door to Laura Ashley. About 30 yards up from the Spar on the corner. Wales's premier shopping high street -


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## PAD1OH (Mar 26, 2009)

I've no problem with poundland but having one on queen street doesn't seem right..

mind you I'm probably to blame because I never shop at any of those high-street shops...


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## bendeus (Mar 26, 2009)

Meanwhile, firm who is charged with marketing the project insists that SD2 will be 'fully let'.  Lulz.

Here


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## berniedicters (Mar 26, 2009)

B0B2oo9 said:


> just incase anyone cared or anything...


Well, I *was* expecting little shops, rugged scenery, and a cathedral in a hollow...


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## Ranbay (Apr 5, 2009)

moved office now, so cant take anymore pics from the roof of the old place 

however, i now have access to the roof at Callaghan Square... lol


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