![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1_The-First-Floors-Building-Credit-5plus-Architects.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe concerns have emerged hours after the building was approved<\/p>\n
An artist’s impression of the first floors of the building as it would be seen from the ground level at Wood Street, Cardiff city centre(Image: 5plus Architects)<\/p>\n
A leading expert has raised concerns about the 50-storey addition to Cardiff<\/a>\u2019s skyline which would be Wales’ tallest building. Cardiff Council<\/a> has approved the construction which would neighbour the Principality Stadium in the capital’s city centre and would also be the UK’s second tallest building outside of London.<\/p>\n If built to maximum height the tower would stand at 178m. While the new building will be a major landmark in the city, Dr Susan Roaf, professor of architectural engineering at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, shared major concerns about its design.<\/p>\n \u201cFor domestic waste the plan is for every resident to carry their rubbish down in sacks but the designers might possibly think about chutes,” she said. “\u201cChutes do not work well in high rise buildings as things get stuck in them as they get too small and have to be closed off.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr Roaf continued: \u201cThe fire planning is terrible. Two sets of fire stairs for up to 1,000 people, with a \u2018stay in place\u2019 policy asking residents to remain in their flats until they are rescued when a fire breaks out.\u201d<\/p>\n The expert also expressed concerns with the possibility of overheating in some flats, which she said could \u201creach over 40 degrees during ever more extreme heatwaves\u201d.<\/p>\n An artist’s impression of what the building could look like(Image: 5plus Architects)<\/p>\n This is in addition to what she claims are the high energy costs that the skyscraper will incur. She said: \u201cMore energy is used in high rise buildings because the higher the floors the more exposed they are to wind and sun, and the larger the requirement for heat and cool across the seasons to compensate for their increased exposure to the elements.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople near the ground will be paying the extra energy cost premium for bundled bills for those on the higher floors too, as well as the astronomical service charges to maintain this oversized building.\u201d<\/p>\n The shadow of the building was also a concern. The professor said: \u201cMany of the citizens of Cardiff who live in the shadow of the tower will have their sunlight for warming, wellbeing and PV generation blocked out by the tower in winter.\u201d Never miss a Cardiff story by signing up to our daily newsletter here<\/a><\/p>\n Ed Williams, CEO of BlueCastle Capital, the company developing the high-rise, said: \u201cThis development has been developed through a detailed design and planning process over a sustained period, working closely with Cardiff Council and a team of specialist consultants.<\/p>\n \u201cTechnical assessments covering fire safety, waste management, overheating, daylight and environmental performance formed part of the application and were thoroughly reviewed as part of the planning process before permission was granted.<\/p>\n \u201cAs the project progresses, the design will continue to be refined through the next stage of detailed design, with all aspects required to meet the relevant planning, building safety and regulatory standards.<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe the scheme will deliver high quality new homes in a highly sustainable city centre location and make a positive contribution to Cardiff\u2019s continued regeneration.”<\/p>\n The site between Wood Street and Rose Lane was earmarked by developer Rightacres for a 35-storey building in 2023.<\/p>\n Get Cardiff news updates on your phone by joining our WhatsApp community here<\/a>. We occasionally treat members to special offers, promotions, and ads from us and our partners. See our Privacy Notice<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The concerns have emerged hours after the building was approved An artist’s impression of the first floors of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475667,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,2188,3786,1120,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-475666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-cardiff","tag-cardiff-council","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1_An-ArtistS-Rendition-Of-The-Skyscraper-At-Night-Credit-5plus-Architects.jpg\")
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