{"id":629959,"date":"2026-06-09T21:42:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T21:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/629959\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T21:42:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T21:42:16","slug":"nissen-richards-gets-nod-to-revamp-cardiff-venue-after-nearly-three-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/629959\/","title":{"rendered":"Nissen Richards gets nod to revamp Cardiff venue after nearly three years"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 1,270m\u00b2 Womanby Street venue first went out to consultation on an early concept<\/a> in 2019 before detailed plans were submitted to Cardiff Council<\/a> in August 2023.<\/p>\n

The approved plans by the London-based practice will see the venue take over a derelict building on a neighbouring site, which Cardiff Council bought and agreed to lease to the club and community centre.<\/p>\n

The scheme involves removing the existing building\u2019s first floor to create a 500-capacity double-height performance space with a standing area and wrap-around mezzanine balcony.<\/p>\n

The venue\u2019s upper floor will include a 200-capacity space, which can be used simultaneously to host a different event.<\/p>\n

Nissen Richards director Jim Richards said planning matters were largely complete in 2024, but legal issues took \u2018an age\u2019 to be tied up.<\/p>\n

He said Section 106 discussions were \u2018very complex\u2019, involving numerous parties, including the owner of the adjacent land and the council.<\/p>\n

Richards praised the tenacity of client Clwb Ifor Bach in pursuing the discussions until their conclusion.<\/p>\n

Small elements of the plans were amended in October 2023, December 2023, February 2024 and April 2024, following feedback from council officers.<\/p>\n

Changes included reintroducing initially suggested green roof elements, updating elevations to allay concerns about the impact of acoustic measures on the scheme\u2019s appearance and repositioning basement cycle spaces based on feedback from highways officers.<\/p>\n

Nissen Richards said the venue\u2019s architectural treatment refers to the local city architectural vernacular, from Cardiff Castle and the semi-glazed bricks of the Victorian terraces to the local Art Deco cinema\u2019s render.<\/p>\n

The new building\u2019s faceted front features a slightly abstracted look, facing in the direction of the castle, with its verticality more pronounced from the other direction. The verticality reflects the Art Deco influences, but with a more industrial feel that\u2019s right for the venue, it added.<\/p>\n

The venue, which is a registered charity, is fundraising to pay for the cost of the redevelopment.<\/p>\n

Clwb Ifor Bach chief executive Guto Brychan said: \u2018Our plans to improve Clwb Ifor Bach for the artists and audiences of the future will be a cornerstone of the city\u2019s live music infrastructure for years to come.<\/p>\n

\u2018The venue won\u2019t just build on our heritage, it will contribute to our community, to the Welsh economy and to the fabric of Welsh life. And it will play a critical role in making Cardiff an internationally recognised music city, the capital of a country that\u2019s synonymous with song.\u2019<\/p>\n

Cardiff Council granted permission to the scheme on 2 April.<\/p>\n

\ufeff<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 1,270m\u00b2 Womanby Street venue first went out to consultation on an early concept in 2019 before detailed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":629960,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,2188,1120,96,35799,154603,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-629959","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-design","tag-entertainment","tag-music-venue","tag-nissen-richards-studio","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629959","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=629959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}