Property experts from across the UK converged on Cardiff for an event celebrating the completion of the £60 million headquarters of insurance specialist Admiral Group.
Leading property developer Stoford and Union Investments recently announced the practical completion of the 243,000 sq ft city centre building which is both 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 was attended by more than 80 property professionals.
The architecturally eye-catching BREEAM Excellent building, directly behind St David’s Shopping Centre, meets the highest standards of environmental sustainability and energy efficiency.
Stoford director Tony Nash said: “We were delighted to have an opportunity to welcome so many of the people that worked on the project and made it such a resounding success. We are extremely proud of the building, 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 and will provide Admiral’s employees with an excellent environment in which to work.”
Admiral Group Head of Property, Huw Llewellyn said: “It was a pleasure to see so many of the people that worked so hard to create our new headquarters here to celebrate an amazing achievement. The internal and external teams along with the development team have delivered a functional, modern and inspiring workplace.”
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 S Mark Gubb has been commissioned to realise his proposal, ‘Alight’ – a 10-metre tall, freestanding, illuminated, steel and glass lightning bolt – which is due to be unveiled later this month.