Work on one of the biggest developments in Cardiff appears to be underway again after the the coronavirus pandemic halted construction. The large concrete frame of the 1 John Street development stood, apparently unchanged, on the bustling city centre street for over a year.
John Street is the site of a huge new office development, with 10 storeys and over 100,000 square feet of grade A office space under construction. The development involves three interlocking high-rise blocks with developers also wanting to build a new hotel as part of a 27-storey building also given the go-ahead.
Work now appears to be underway on the development after it remained, at least from the outside, unchanged for months - some even suggested that the large concrete frame that occupied the site looked more like a car park than the promised plush new office block. Once finished, however, the block will eventually be able to accommodate 1,000 workers.
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Now, the building is starting to look more like the proposed office block, with workmen fitting glass panels onto the exterior of the building. The site was initially due to be completed by the third quarter of 2022 and work began in 2019. But, with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, only the frame of the building had been completed until recently. JR Smart confirmed they would re-commence work on the site earlier this year.
With internal works and external cladding due to be complete, it is expected that the project will be finished by the end of 2023. Featuring a tenant's business lounge, a coffee shop, secure cycle storage and a yoga suite, the design for the office scheme also includes a 3,500 sq ft rooftop terrace.
The development is one of several ongoing projects in the capital. Just next door sits the seven-acre Capital Quarter development, of which JR Smart has already let 370,000 sq ft of offices. Get the latest news on projects and more from across Cardiff sent straight to your inbox for free by signing up to our newsletters.
A spokesperson for Knight Frank, on behalf of JR Smart, said earlier this year: “We have taken stock of how the office sector has emerged in a post-Covid world. We remain fully committed to this scheme and have worked very hard with our professional team to ensure that we reflect in our design what occupiers want from their office space.
"Through discussions with both our team and occupiers it is clear that the space being demanded needs to meet a number of criteria – we have continued to adapt to the market and we are excited that we have been able to meet all the demands of ESG, building amenity and will provide first class space. We have a number of occupiers that we are currently in advanced discussions with."
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