Following a series of local consultations, award winning regeneration company Urban Splash has submitted a detailed planning application for the repurposing of Swansea’s Civic Centre.
Designed by a team led by Urban Splash and including architects Studio Egret West in collaboration with Carmarthen‑based Rural Office, the proposals involve ground‑floor cafés, bars and beach‑sports retail spilling onto the seafront, new apartments, together with new cultural spaces, a leading‑edge aquarium, and flexible events space. Proposals for new saltwater lido are also being worked up alongside as part of the wider City Waterfront scheme.
The application marks a major milestone in Urban Splash and Swansea Council’s 20‑year strategic regeneration partnership with the project also receiving central government support earlier this year. In spring, the then Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a £20 million grant intended to create jobs, enhance the city’s tourism offer and boost the local economy – making Swansea “a more attractive place to live, work and start a business”.
David Warburton, Development Director at Urban Splash, said: “We’re grateful to everyone who took part in the consultations and shared their feedback. We have taken those conversations on board and have now lodged our detailed planning application; it’s a significant step towards transforming this stretch of Swansea’s seafront into a vibrant hub that serves the local community and attracts visitors from across Wales and beyond.
“Urban Splash has 33 years’ experience of taking places like this forward – sensitively transforming buildings and places, preserving heritage and creating spaces for new generations. We look forward to progressing the Civic Centre project and delivering something that Swansea can be proud of for decades to come.”
The Civic Centre proposals form part of Urban Splash’s wider programme of work across Swansea. This week, the company will host a consultation on its riverside neighbourhood proposals in the St Thomas area, with a consultation at Y Storfa on 12th August, and St Thomas‘ Church on 13th. Meanwhile, Urban Splash hopes to share early designs for Porth Copr, a proposed new city centre residential, retail and leisure scheme, with the public in September.
