Plans to transform part of a historic Cardiff building into an indoor activity centre have been revealed. The former HSBC Bank building on the corner of Bute Street and James Street in Butetown has largely been converted into luxury apartments but could also become home to an airsoft shooting range if proposals submitted to Cardiff council are approved.
Hot Shots Airsoft Ltd have put forward plans to transform the ground floor and basement of the Grade II-listed Victorian building into an entertainment venue featuring airsoft games, foam-tipped archery, softball, and rubber axe throwing. The basement would also house an interactive gaming experience. The company, which already has a venue in High Street, will partner with its sister company Escape Rooms Cardiff to create the new site which it hopes will bring it in line with other alternative entertainment ventures that have arrived in the city in recent years including Boom Battle Bar and 'social darts' venue Flight Club.
If the proposals are approved the ground floor and basement of the building, amounting to more than 7,200 square feet, will be divided into three activity areas, each available to hire out for parties and other events for groups of two to 28 playing guests, suitable for families and players of all ages. A seated area for 44 people to eat, drink, and spectate is also included in the plans.
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The first activity area will feature airsoft shooting lanes which will be used for social target practice gaming using airsoft guns and interactive LED targets. Within the planning application Hot Shots proposes to hold arcade-style shooting lane sessions at the venue with each lasting 45 minutes and host a maximum group size of 16 people across eight individual lanes.
The lanes will be equipped with new 'attack sense' technology with players able to choose from various games, including shootouts and time trials, as well as different difficulty levels. Each lane will have 16 targets of different sizes – small, medium, and large – to challenge players of all abilities.
Hot Shots also wants to offer two ‘non-shooting gaming lanes’ where players can use the same target technology but through soft foam-tipped archery, rubber axe throwing, or softball pitching rather than airsoft. It is envisioned that sessions on these lanes will last around half an hour with each lane used by up to two people per session.
Finally the basement of the building, which was constructed in 1874, has been proposed as the site for the company's gaming experience, which takes players through the old bank vaults as they complete physical challenges to gain points and prizes. This experience will last around an hour and a half and involve teams of between two and four players.
If permission is granted the venue would be open every day between midday and 11pm. It is set to create 15 full-time jobs, three of which would be as managers, as well as five part-time roles.
A limited food menu will also be outsourced to local restaurants to deliver to the venue via an ordering-based app. Alcohol will also be served until 10.30pm although not before playing guests have taken part in the airsoft activities.
The application, submitted by Escape Rooms Cardiff owner Calum Jones. added: "Creating this alternative entertainment venue would bring Hot Shots in line with other thriving alternative entertainment markets such as escape rooms, laser tag, crazy golf, bowling, axe-throwing, arcade bars, digital darts, and mixed activity venues such as Boom Battle Bar in the Brewery Quarter.
"Since opening our current venue, Escape Rooms Cardiff, in 2016 we’ve welcomed more than 170,000 players and have gained a wealth of experience in the alternative entertainment industry. We have seen an enormous demand for social activities over the last seven years and we feel this would be very successful in Cardiff."
If approved the venue would open underneath one of Cardiff's most impressive apartment complexes. The Bank was completed in 2019 after the building shut its doors as a functional bank five years earlier. The 15 residential apartments on the top three floors were "carefully crafted to enhance the elegant original features of the Victorian bathstone building whilst incorporating modern, stylish design and functionality".
In 2020 the penthouse of the building, which has its own private lift, went on the market with the incredible property being listed for a cool £1.2m. The three-bedroom penthouse was described as the "jewel in Cardiff Bay's crown" and offers a stunning skyline view over the bay and surrounding area.
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