Green light for landmark element of Central Quay scheme

Plans for a landmark element of the wider Central Quay development in Cardiff have been approved.The application, submitted by planning consultancy Lichfields on behalf of Rightacres, concerns the refurbishment and extension to the former Brains Brewhouse for a mixed-use development.In March last year Brains opened its new brewery in Cardiff Bay and vacated the application site shortly afterwards. Since the relocation, work has commenced on clearing much of the vacant brewery site in readiness for its redevelopment.The Brewhouse element involves the conversion of the four to five storey building alongside the removal of operational extensions and ancillary buildings.The 150ft ‘Brains’ chimney will also be retained and will form a centre-piece of a future public square to be developed to the north of the BrewhouseA new six storey extension is proposed to the eastern façade of the retained Brewhouse that will predominantly house office floorspace, although at ground floor level it will also contain the office reception area, commercial units, plant and back of house services for the building.The extension will be connected with the original Brewhouse building via a centralised atrium/lightwell which will provide a spatial divide between the existing building and the proposed extension. Internally several bridge links will connect the two building elementsOverall the development will involve the creation of approximately 85,119 sq ft of floorspace.The Brewhouse and chimney element, which has now received planning permission, will be a centrepiece of Central Quay and will form the backdrop to another public space known as Market Square.The Central Quay project forms part of Cardiff’s Central Enterprise Zone and Regional Transport Hub plans.It will eventually comprise more than 1.1 million sq ft of office space, 600 residential units, a 200-bed hotel, a new campus for Cardiff Metropolitan University and the infrastructure for the delivery of a new metro system.