An old office and retail building in Cardiff called “hideous” will be turned into flats and a community centre. Medallion House on Crwys Road, Cathays is still home to a British Heart Foundation furniture shop and used to home to a Co-op supermarket.
For years now, the building which some residents say is an eyesore on the high street, has been lying partially empty and surrounded by metal fencing. It will now be home to 67 flats, with the retention of retail space on the ground floor.
Cardiff Council ward members for Cathays expressed support for the principle of developing Medallion House and bringing it back into full use. However, at a planning committee meeting on Thursday, January 16, they raised concerns about the impact it could have on residents. For more Cardiff news, sign up to our newsletter here.
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Cllr Chris Weaver said some residents would be “significantly overshadowed” by the proposed development, and he and his ward colleague, Cllr Sarah Merry, said the issue of lighting was a “great concern” for them. A council report on the plans states there are three properties where light levels would fall below the 27% Building Research Establishment (BRE) recommendation as a result of the project.
However, it also notes that the figure is an advisory. Cllr Merry also raised concerns about the potential impact that a proposed rooftop space for residents could have on privacy.
The councillors called for the decision on the application to be deferred so that a thorough review of its impact on lighting could be carried out. However, senior planner at Cardiff Council, Steve Ball, said: “We do have a thorough and comprehensive understanding of the impacts of this development.”
Medallion House as it is now -Credit:WalesOnline/Rob Browne
The car park behind Medallion House -Credit:WalesOnline/Rob Browne
He also said that the impact of the development would be outweighed by the “significant and clear benefit of this development”, adding: “[It is] not a very nice site at the moment… and it really needs freshening up.” The development of Medallion House will involve the demolition of the existing first and second floor and the construction of four new upper floors, with the existing car park at the back of the building being developed on.
One member of the planning committee, Cllr Garry Hunt, called Mr Ball’s comments regarding the current state of the building an “understatement” and called it a “hideous” building. He called the proposed design of the new building an improvement, but added that he felt uneasy about the potential impact it could have on existing residents in the area.
A computer generated image showing what the redeveloped Medallion House could look like -Credit:Rio Architects
Another computer generated image of the proposed Medallion House redevelopment -Credit:Rio Architects
Other members of the committee shared his unease, including councillors Adrian Robson and Peter Wong. Councillors Sean Driscoll and Michael Michael noted the concerns about lighting, but ultimately said they were more minded to see Medallion House redeveloped.
Cllr Drsicoll called the scheme “great” on balance and added that it would be a “vast improvement on what is already there”. The flats at Medallion House will be a mix of one and two bedroom flats, with 64 of them proposed to be affordable.