Goldbeck UK is to build a new, smaller and ‘highly sustainable’ County Hall as part of Cardiff’s showcase Atlantic Wharf urban regeneration scheme. 

The Cardiff development represents Goldbeck UK’s largest project in the country to date.

The firm has entered into a Pre-Contract Service Agreement (PCSA) with Cardiff Council to fix the design and cost before entering a Development Agreement later this summer.

The County Hall development forms part of the wider regeneration of Atlantic Wharf, which extends over around 30 acres and will deliver a mixed-use development, incorporating restaurants and bars, leisure, office, residential, hotel and cultural uses adjacent to a new 15,000-capacity indoor arena.

The firm said the development scheme will harness its innovative ‘turnkey’ integrated design and manufacture building process, which has made it the biggest and most successful family-owned construction company in Germany and driven its expansion across European markets.

Goldbeck Group investment company Indigo is providing construction financing for the Atlantic Wharf project.

Craig Davies, Managing Director, Goldbeck UK, said:

“The new County Hall to be built by Goldbeck UK for Cardiff Council at Atlantic Wharf will use our industry-leading construction model to deliver an operationally zero-carbon building. The new office space will provide a modern working environment more closely tailored to the council’s needs and have significantly lower operating costs than the current building it replaces. Because we manage all aspects of the project from architectural design to the manufacture of materials and assembly on-site, we ensure tight cost control, which is a top priority for Cardiff Council and vital to the success of the Atlantic Wharf area redevelopment as a future working and cultural hub for the city.”

The new Cardiff County Hall will cover 100,000 square feet (9,000 sqm), a sharp reduction on the 277,000 sq ft (26,000 sqm) current office building, providing more public ‘green space’ and development opportunities around the location. The building will also include shared spaces available for the community to use for meetings and events and studio and production space for the Wales Millennium Centre, a state-of-the-art facility for training and developing Welsh talent in the performing arts.

Craig Davies said:

“Atlantic Wharf is exactly the type of mixed-use sustainable development project delivering modern commercial space, private and affordable housing and leisure facilities, with new urban infrastructure, that is urgently needed across the UK to support local communities and drive the country’s economic growth. The UK potentially will be the biggest construction growth market in Europe over the next 10 years. But without a radical shift in approach by the British building industry, which is plagued by project delays and cost-overruns, the Government will struggle to reach its affordable housing and infrastructure development targets. Goldbeck aims to be a disrupter in the UK market and demonstrate how our flexible, integrated construction model can overcome the hurdles holding the industry back.”