The empty Swansea city centre plot where flats and a shop or cafe are planned

Flats and a commercial unit could rise from a patch of land in the centre of Swansea. The plot in Orchard Street is fenced in and flanked on one side by an ivy-covered building.

A company called Karim Developments wants to develop a six-storey block comprising 16 flats with a ground floor commercial unit. The scheme would link back to a building directly behind on High Street, which runs parallel to Orchard Street. The plan is to convert the first and second storeys of the High Street-facing building, and add a further recessed level of flats on top. You can get more Swansea news and other story updates by subscribing to our newsletters here.

Inbetween the two buildings would be enclosed roof gardens featuring shrubs, climbers, bird boxes and pergolas. No parking spaces are planned. Bike storage space would be provided.

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A six-storey block of flats and commercial unit is proposed on this empty plot in Orchard Street (Richard Youle)

An image from the High Street side showing how the proposed roof gardens and pergolas behind the Orchard Street block would look (Prime Architecture Ltd)

How the renovated High Street building would look, with a commercial unit still on the ground floor and flats above (Prime Architecture)

The developer and its agent, Asbri Planning, has discussed the scheme with council planning officers after submitting a pre-application enquiry. A full planning application has now been submitted. A planning statement submitted as part of Karim Developments' application said: "The proposal will provide an attractive addition to Orchard Street whilst developing upon the existing building at High Street and overall improving the street-scape."

Swansea Council has revamped Orchard Street to include wide pavements, trees and other greenery, but it is dominated in the middle by a multi-storey car park and rather drab-looking health clinic. Both ends of the street, though, have been transformed by new student accommodation at the railway station end and new flats and commercial space at The Kingsway end, where the roundabout used to be.

The fabric of High Street has also, in some sections, improved in recent years. However, it emerged this month that two High Street shops might have to be knocked down due to safety concerns. Scaffolding and fencing has been placed around the shops - 226 and 226A - and Coastal Housing Group has applied to the council to demolish them. Planning documents submitted as part of Coastal Housing Group's application said the fencing was to reduce the risk of falling masonry falling onto the pavement.

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