To provide a bold, contemporary identity for a development of 243 apartments, forming the flagship buildings of Cardiff Bay’s impressive Century Wharf residential development.
The design is a modern expression of historical river-front architecture, with blocks characterised by dramatic overhanging pitched roofs, cantilevered balconies and brick and reconstituted stone facades. Consistent with previous phases of development, the external east and south facing elevations are faced in buff brick, with plinth areas in contrasting dark brown. Columns to main entrances are individually marked by vertically-ribbed, glazed brick slips in a range of bold primary colours. Columns were formed utilising pre-assembled units of L-shaped glazed brick slips, specially designed for this project, fixed to 7.3 N/mm aggregate blocks. Pre-assembled in the factory to tight tolerances, the glazed blocks, each equivalent in size to six bricks, provided benefits in both accuracy and speed of construction, as well as reinforcing a distinct, contemporary character for the buildings.
