A project transforming what was once a much-loved former store will become the "heart and lungs" of Swansea city centre, developers have promised. Cranes can be seen hovering above the city's skyline as Hacer Developments workers are busy breathing new life into the old home of Woolworths in Oxford Street.
Since 2021 it has been looking to deliver its vision in transforming the famous old store into an eye-catching 'living building' which will see a new 12-storey tower built and joined onto the former store, ‘stepping up’ the building away from Oxford Street to the rear at Picton Yard. It will provide an educational facility, residential apartments, shops, offices, and a courtyard and will be green-minded with a bio-diverse look featuring living – or biophilic – walls and roofs along with rooftop solar panels, battery storage, and gardens.
There will be an urban farm-style greenhouse set over four floors and plants and vegetables in the south-facing greenhouse will be grown in water and nourished by waste pumped up from fish tanks at the bottom of the building. The waste water will then be filtered and channelled back to the fish tanks. For the latest Swansea news sign up to our newsletter here.
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Project manager for the Biophilic Living Project, Lee Wrightson, has now shared an update on how the project is progressing and shared pictures showing the ongoing work including the stunning views of the city which will be on offer. He said: "Works are progressing as planned on the scheme. To date we have carried out some demolition works to the rear of the former Woolworths building to make way for the very unique tower block. We then carried out continuous flight auger (CFA) piling which averaged from 15m to 23m in the ground which enabled us to start the concrete frame. We have retaining as much of the existing building as possible to reduced the embedded carbon.
"Currently we are due to finish the concrete frame structure in six weeks. Once complete the top of the building will sit just over 57m above ordnance datum. The views from the top of are really breathtaking. The projects aim is to provide sustainable city living by means of a cooperative shared ownership model through the built form with the creation of a community-interested company and giving access to food, social care, learning facilities and resources, amenity spaces on the rooftops, and a healthy lifestyle encouraging active travelling.
"Biophilic Living Swansea brings a whole ecosystem around a community offering relief from energy poverty by providing access to clean renewable energy while reducing hunger and social isolation. This means not only a reduction in use of carbon-intensive energy but sequestration through green spaces. It will become the heart and lungs of the city centre and hopefully a standard of building for the future."
Mr Wrightson said the development is due for completion in September 2024 and will "come alive" with rooftop gardens, green walls, and a 14m greenhouse which will be nearly 30m the ground and will have a winter garden overlooking Swansea Bay. The company is also working with local companies to come up with a unique retail space for the ground floor where local products will be sold along with products grown in the building's green house. It will also offer three floors of commercial space. Join our WhatsApp news community here for the latest breaking news.
He said: "We are devoted to make this building model work and once the building is finished we will remain involved for five years after to make sure the CIC group is a success story and that the future is biophilic design. This isn’t just going to be a place to live or work – it will be a community to better people's wellbeing and health. Working with Pobl this building will also offer 50 brand-new apartments with innovation flowing throughout it.”
A Swansea Council spokesman added: “Our investment in improving the look and feel of The Kingsway was aimed at helping encourage major private sector investment in the area so it’s really pleasing to see all the progress taking place at the biophilic building site. Led by Hacer Developments this will lead to a groundbreaking and innovative scheme in the heart of the city centre that will create jobs and city living opportunities as part of a project that will champion sustainability.
“The scheme is located very close to the new 71/72 Kingsway office scheme being developed by the council at the former Oceana nightclub site. Once operational these projects will combine to further raise the profile of Swansea city centre and benefit existing shops and other businesses there because of the footfall and spending they’ll create.”
