SWANSEA ARENA BREAKING GROUND
The first phase of Swansea Central is finally breaking ground.
Over the last four years, Swansea Council and ACME have defined a master plan that will heal some of the gaps in the urban fabric, bring new uses to the city centre,and re-link the city to the docks and onward to the beach.
The first parts of the scheme that commenced construction this week are the new Coastal Park and the 3,500-seat Swansea arena, due to open in the summer of 2021.
The arena, coastal park and new bridge will create an incredible stepping stone for future growth, anchoring a new quarter in the city centre that will comprise new green spaces, education, leisure, working and living.
The shape of the arena appears like a fluid arrangement of bifurcating curves, pushed and pulled by the spatial requirements of the accommodation inside. The facade consists of a pleated and perforated aluminium mesh with integrated LEDs across the entire facade to display art, events and performances to the adjacent digital square and the wider city. The bridge to the arena uses a stressed steel skin as its structure to provide a super thin bridge deck and create a unique shadow and light experience when walking across and driving below it.