St Davids unique to Wales

Extract:

The new multimillion pound shopping centre in Cardiff is unique to Wales. St David’s was specifically designed for its new home in the capital city and draws influence from Welsh culture and shopping habits.

Article:

The new multimillion pound shopping centre in Cardiff is unique to Wales. St David’s was specifically designed for its new home in the capital city and draws influence from Welsh culture and shopping habits.

The £675m St David’s, which opens in just four weeks, will incorporate key Welsh features including culturally inspired artwork and the use of the Welsh language. St David’s Partnership a joint venture between Land Securities and Capital Shopping Centres has also employed a team of 1,000 construction workers recruited from the local workforce.

In the heart of the shopping centre, in the middle of Grand Arcade, stainless steel words spell out the Welsh National Anthem. These are being in laid into the flooring above which the words ‘Dwyrain’ and ‘Gorllewin’ – East and West in Welsh – are imprinted on the glass of the crossover within Grand Arcade.

In Eastside – the new restaurant quarter – Welsh slate is being wrapped around the lift cores as a design feature while across the city and throughout St David’s, a new bilingual signage system is being installed which will help direct visitors in both Welsh and English.

Deputy Project Director Norman White said: “The design of St David’s is specific for its location and is therefore unique for the city.

“Wales has a strong heritage and a deep rooted culture and we wanted this to be reflected in the shopping centre. The new development will be something that Welsh people can proud of and can share with visitors from the rest of the UK and overseas.

“St David’s has been more than a decade in the making and a lot of thought has gone into making it right for Wales. We’ve completed extensive research on shopping habits and footfall to make sure that the shopping centre works for the city in terms of its layout, exact location and the new retailers which are right for the shoppers of Cardiff.

“We’ve made sure that this shopping destination fits in with the existing fabric of the city and, when it opens, visitors will see this. St David’s will connect together two halves of the city. The Hayes Arcade in St David’s will run seamlessly across to the Royal Arcade to encourage foot flow into the historic arcades that the city are so proud of. It’s only when you stand in the centre of the development that you realise how close you are to so many different parts of the city.”

St David’s is providing an extensive public art programme within the shopping centre and in the city with several projects by Welsh artists or with a Welsh twist.

Welsh culture has been encapsulated in the Identities project, made up of three different artworks. These include granite chess tables on The Hayes by Bedwyr Williams, of Caernarfon, bollards designed by artist Jane Edden and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and resin blocks which will tell the story of Welsh people.
The 13 resin blocks, by artist Lesley Kerman of Cardiff, will be featured inside St David’s near Eastside. Each block has an object embedded within, sourced from local people to encapsulate what Cardiff and Wales means to them.

Other Wales-inspired artworks include Kathy Dalwood’s bulkhead friezes and Anne Smyth’s flooring designs beneath the atrium in the existing shopping centre. Dalwood was influenced by Cardiff’s industrial and maritime history while Smyth’s designs reflect the city’s medieval trading era.

Norman White continued: “The public art pieces were chosen because they draw on Welsh culture and history. We believe these artworks will help enhance the Welsh identity of St David’s and there won’t be another shopping centre in the country identical to it.”