WORK to demolish a prominent former office block in Cardiff city centre and replace it with student flats is now well underway.
Cardiff Council’s planning committee approved plans in September 2024 to demolish Longcross Court and use the site on Newport Road for an 18-storey accommodation complex.
Loncross Court was originally built as an office block in the 1970s, but it also used to house a number of businesses, including Channings and Adventure Rooms.
The student accommodation block which is set to replace it will include 706 private rooms, a cafe and 480sqm of office space.
When plans to demolish and build over Longcross Court were approved, councillors expressed both concern and relief over the future of the red brick building at the bottom of City Road.
At the time, one member of the council’s planning committee, Cllr Jon Shimmin, said he felt the new development would have a negative impact on the character of the area.
On the structure which will form the main block of the student accommodation scheme, he added it “doesn’t enhance” the site and “adds nothing to the skyline of Cardiff”.
However, other members of the planning committee were more favourable.
Cllr Sean Driscoll suggested Longcross Court represented an eyesore in this part of the city, calling the building “abysmal”.
He added: “[It is] like Ayers Rock in the middle of Adamsdown.”
Other concerns raised at the time included potential traffic issues caused by the dropping off and picking up of students at the beginning and end of terms; the overall loss of office space in the city centre; and the quality of living for students.
Council planners told planning committee members that more than a quarter of the units fail to achieve adequate light – something Cllr Shimmin called “unacceptable”.
He added: “This one room… will be the only bit they [students] can call their own in this big city.”
Planning officers at Cardiff Council noted the light levels in these spaces were regrettable, but added this degree of impact was considered as part of the wider planning balance and potential benefits the development will bring.
There will also be communal spaces on site, like a cinema, gym and rooftop garden, and committee members were told a condition is in place to ensure the development is only used for student accommodation and not more permanent accommodation.
The developers behind the scheme will be required to submit a plan on how they will manage traffic at the end and start of term before any part of the building is occupied.
A design and access statement written on behalf of the developers states the new site will “regenerate a prominent site in a sustainable location, to provide high quality” accommodation.
It goes on to add the scheme will also “enhance” the public realm and “animate the surrounding streets of Newport Road, City Road and Oxford Lane”.
