Leading property developer Stoford and Union Investments have announced the practical completion of the £60 million Cardiff headquarters of insurance specialist Admiral Group.
The 243,000 sq ft city centre building is both Birmingham-based Stoford’s, and Cardiff’s, largest ever pre-let office development.
Standing 11 storeys high, with three floors of basement car parking, the development took two and a half years to complete.
It will be home to 2,400 Admiral employees who are relocating to the office from three other locations in the Welsh capital. Admiral also has offices in Newport and Swansea.
A celebration of the success of the working partnership between Admiral, Stoford, funders Union Investment Real Estate GmbH and construction company Sir Robert McAlpine will be staged later this year.
The architecturally eye-catching BREEAM Excellent building, directly behind St David’s 2 Shopping Centre, meets the highest standards of environmental sustainability and energy efficiency.
Stoford director Tony Nash said: “We are extremely proud of the building that has been created right in the very heart of Cardiff. It is an outstanding example of a successful working partnership delivering a highly complex city centre project. It will provide Admiral’s employees with an excellent environment in which to work.”
Admiral Group Head of Property, Huw Llewellyn said: “Our new headquarters will provide all of us at Admiral with a fantastic working environment in the heart of the city. The internal and external teams along with the development team have delivered a functional, modern and inspiring workplace. We are very fortunate to have so many shopping, eating and travelling options within walking distance for our staff to enjoy.”
A spokesman for Union Investments said: “This great building has been a key element of our expansion in the UK property market where Union believes the prime cities are areas for rental and value growth.”
A feature of the new development will be a piece of prestigious public artwork reflecting the contemporary nature of the site and in keeping with its prominent location in Cardiff city centre. Following a competitive process, artist Gubb has been commissioned to realise his proposal, ‘Alight’ – a 10-metre tall, freestanding, illuminated, steel and glass lightning bolt.
