From the outside it might not look like much is happening at the Albert Hall but inside it’s a different story.
The new-look venue will include a food hall with eight independent stalls, a seating area, bar, performance area and stage, private dining rooms, karaoke, and a children’s play centre on the lower ground floor.
There’ll be 18 first-floor offices, and then 13 units above geared towards health and lifestyle services such as physiotherapy. Above that will be 10 serviced accommodation units for visitors, a rooftop garden, a work space area and a gym.
Simon Baston, director of LoftCo Ltd, the Cardiff-based company which bought and is restoring the building, said: “It was a very complex project due to the Albert Hall’s grade two listed status and its single access on Craddock Street.
“The best way of tackling it, however, is to build a new frame inside the building. This method maintained its structural integrity while allowing the exterior to be preserved.”
He added that the food hall traders would all be local businesses, while cafe-bar operator Academy Coffee, which has venues in Cardiff and Newport, will run the bar and also an adjacent ground floor premises.
The building opened in 1864 as a public assembly and concert venue for up to 2,500 people and was called The Music Hall. It became the Albert Hall in 1882.
Over the years the venue hosted speeches and performances by Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, David Lloyd George and opera singer Adelina Patti among others. It then became a cinema and bingo hall before closing in 2007.
An artists vision of what the inside of the Albert Hall will look like
Early restoration proposals envisaged an 800-capacity music venue but the mix of ground floor units has reduced this performance area to a maximum of 500 people.
Mr Baston said he felt Swansea was undergoing a sea change in terms of regeneration, and he thanked the Welsh Government, which has provided £5.6 million towards the project, and Swansea Council for their support.
Mr Baston also praised Llanelli building contractor RNF Property Group for its ongoing work adding, “Every challenge that has come their way they have worked through. We are delighted with their performance.”
It is hoped the new-look Albert Hall will attract footfall north of the revamped Kingsway and benefit existing Craddock Street businesses, which have put up with disruption and a road closure.
Sam Levett, of vintage clothes shop Karma Bespoke, which is opposite the Albert Hall, said: “The project manager has explained to me what’s happening there. It’s amazing, and well-needed. We’re going to have a cafe bar in the corner of our shop and tables outside.”
Goff Doolan, of men’s clothes shop Moustache, Craddock Street, added: “I think it’s quite exciting. It has been a long couple of years, to be honest, and footfall has been down. We are looking forward to it being open.”
[Lead image: Seven Studio Design]
