Landmark site to incorporate pioneering features

An innovative mixed-use regeneration development in Swansea city centre is set to introduce a number of pioneering features as the site of a former Woolworths is transformed.The Biophilic Swansea project on Oxford Street will provide affordable new homes and workspace alongside a community urban farm. The scheme is being brought forward by Hacer Developments, with affordable homes provider Pobl Group joining as its residential partner. Swansea University, the Active Building Centre, Public Health Wales, and a number of local community groups have all helped with the development of the project.Funding awarded through the Welsh Government Innovative Housing Programme will enable Biophilic Swansea to incorporate innovative technologies and community features, to explore a new way of inner-city housing in Wales. The project will feature two south facing greenhouses at roof level, the largest of which will be serviced by an aquaponics system designed to produce up to 4.5 tonnes of fruits, vegetables, salads and herbs per year. The aquaponics system will create a continuous cycle where waste produced by fish, living in onsite tanks, adds nutrients to the water which feeds the greenhouse plants. The water is then filtered and recirculated back into the system. Biophilic Swansea’s aquaponic fish tanks and associated equipment will be developed in partnership with Swansea University’s Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research (CSAR) and will form part of an education and public display on the ground floor of the tower. The vision for Biophilic Swansea includes residents running and managing the urban farm as a social enterprise.The project is a mixed-use development that includes affordable and shared ownership housing, as well as retail and low carbon commercial office space. The existing building, formerly Woolworth, will be redeveloped with new floors added above and a new build tower element to the rear. This will open into a new multi-use public realm, which will become a public and cultural space and a destination for events and street markets. The public realm effectively links the Biophilic Swansea project with the new Council led development at 71-72 The Kingsway on the site of the former Oceana nightclub, which will provide high tech workspace.