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Wales Online
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Wales Online
Across a yellow bridge in Wales is a hidden huge structure no-one has ever been inside
Across a yellow bridge in Wales is a hidden huge structure no-one has ever been inside It was supposed to open years ago to the public, then they found something very wrong with it Under wraps - the unfinished multi-storey car park near Oystermouth Road (Image: Richard Youle ) Over a yellow bridge lies a secret world no regular citizen has ever set foot in. It sits, covered from head to toe, so no-one can see what's within. It sounds like some tale from the world of the Wizard of Oz, with the yellow brick road replaced with a yellow bridge of course. The truth is much more mundane however, but a saga nonetheless. The secret world is actually just a multi-storey car park. What makes it different from other such buildings is that no cars have ever parked there - ever! It was built around the same time as the Swansea Building Society Arena opposite, which opened in 2022, and was expected to start welcoming drivers heading for the city centre shops and attractions and/or the arena itself. A second car park beneath the arena is the main parking area for that facility. But there was a problem. Paintwork which coated the steel was found to be defective and needed blasting off and reapplying. The structure has been covered up pretty much ever since, while contractors finish what was left of the work after the company which began building it went into administration. Article continues below It has become a big blot on what is otherwise a great looking development in Swansea. But there is hope now that this could soon be rectified. The new, complete, multi-storey car park may be unwrapped in time for Christmas in Swansea, the council has said. The works which have been taking places there include weather-proofing the car parking decks, completing painting and fire protection jobs, and work on the external finish and appearance of the building. The car park was part of the £135 million council-led Copr Bay project which gave rise to the indoor arena, adjacent coastal park and car park below, the unmissable yellow pedestrian bridge across Oystermouth Road, and flats and commercial units opposite. The authority had hoped the multi-storey car park, which it said had problems with its paintwork, would be completed in spring, 2024, and then the end of 2024. Never miss a Swansea story by signing up to our newsletter here Swansea firm Andrew Scott Ltd, which was brought in after Copr Bay contractors Buckingham Group went into administration, has been busy at the multi-storey car park for a while. The Local Democracy Reporting Service asked the council if it would be ready for use by Christmas, to which a spokesman replied: "We are working with the contractor to speed up delivery of the scheme with the aim of completion by the end of the year." He said the nearby St David's multi-storey car park would remain open until the new car park was operational. The multi-storey car park (left), flats and pedestrian bridge over Oystermouth Road (Image: Richard Youle ) Asked if the ground floor commercial units would be open for Christmas and who the tenants were, the spokesman said: "We are in discussions with previous tenants that had been announced for the units. Any available units will soon be re-marketed and - subject to the agreement of tenants - we anticipate the units being open prior to Christmas." There has been praise for the 3,500-capacity Swansea Building Society Arena, including from smaller independent music venues in the city. It opened in March, 2022, and has hosted acts that were previously all but certain to have skipped Wales' second city. An external glass lift rising to the concourse level has proved tricky to resolve though. The council said it was an unfinished element of the scheme but that a solution had now been found. Work, it said, was due to start shortly. "We are targeting completion this summer," said the spokesman. The multi-storey car park at it was in September, 2023 (Image: Richard Youle ) Asked if the work to complete the multi-storey car park and other bits of the scheme would mean the Copr Bay budget being exceeded, the council said it had retained some funding and that this money - along with bonds, insurance and an offer of grant funding - was being used. "There are no additional council funds being allocated to the project at this stage," said the spokesman. Article continues below
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Opulence on the Thames: Fulham's new Riverside Stand in league of its own
The Premier League has become a place where not just the other half reside but the 1%. If money follows money then England's top tier is a place to be seen, to do business, to entertain, for those who can afford the corporate facilities increasingly important to football's bottom line. On Saturday, before Fulham's loss against Everton, a grand opening of Craven Cottage's Riverside Stand. Its exoskeleton was a feature of the Thames during pandemic times, the bottom of the stand has been in partial service for the past three seasons. When contractor Buckingham Group in September 2023 collapsed it left the interior fit to be completed, plus much of the exterior; Buckingham's collapse also delayed Liverpool's Anfield Road redevelopment. Portview, the fit-out contractor, took control and full rollout comes before Fulham see out the 2024-25 season. 'London's original football club has a new world-class matchday experience,' declares a project embracing 21st-century opulence. The club's chief executive, Alistair Mackintosh said: 'A wonderful location now blessed with wonderful hospitality.' Behind such reaching for the skies is Shad Khan, Fulham's Pakistani-American billionaire owner. 'Shad put the vision on steroids,' said Mackintosh. The project has cost significantly more than its initial pricing of £100m, with officials and architects remaining tight-lipped about the overall cost on launch day. 'A location like no other, a real gamechanger for Fulham Football Club, our neighbourhood, and all of London,' was Khan's ambitious declaration as building began in 2019. The architect, Populous, worked on the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the All-England club. Fulham aim to offer the highest-end, most elite corporate facility in football. Hospitality customers will be charged £3,000 to £20,000 a season over nine tiers with individual match packages on sale. Plus VAT. Not for the faint of wallet, at a club where fans have been protesting against prices, saying not all Fulham fans can afford west London house prices, that the club retains a suburban working-class core of support, despite an outwardly genteel image. 'The decision to implement a modest increase was made with careful consideration,' read a 1 May club statement as 2.8% season-ticket increases were levied. Those used to the Hammersmith End, the Putney End and the Johnny Haynes Stand on Stevenage Road may find the Riverside represents a very different social strata, particularly in the toilets. The Cottage has become a place of contrasts. Opposite the Riverside's architectural modernity is the Johnny Haynes, a surviving creation of Archibald Leitch, the genius Scottish architect whose art deco designs were used at Anfield, Old Trafford, Hampden Park and White Hart Lane, among others. Most of those grand designs have passed into history. Leitch's continued influence is obvious in the Riverside Stand's five tiers, as is that of Thames boathouses. This section of London's main river conjures images of Oxford-Cambridge Boat Races, Ringo Starr's caper with a young scruff during a Hard Day's Night, and romcom scenes from Sliding Doors. Fulham seek to reimagine the Cottage as more than a football ground. 'A venue for everyone, every day of the year,' says Mackintosh. On non-matchdays, south-west London's joggers can run along the Thames Path, under the new stand's decks. Inside, a range of eateries and bars, private dining rooms are on offer for the highest-end clients. The Brasserie, the Gourmet, the Thames Bar Room, the Originals, the Dugout, and Marker's Bar are subsections of a structure offering outstanding river vistas. Wembley's arches and Stamford Bridge are visible from the decking. On the opposite bank, Barnes Football Club, an important marker of football's development in the late 19th century. Football is not necessarily central to the project. The Thames is the star attraction, not the playing field. Lighthouse Social is a membership scheme for the non-matchdays, with about 600 members added so far. With a local committee, styled as a neighbourhood-friendly scheme, it has a selection process that might be associated with central London's private members' clubs. Its packages, ranging from £750 to £1,250 will not buy a member matchday access, though the expectation and hope is that 20-30% will cross the great divide. Mention of Fulham FC within the new development is minimal, though a small club badge is visible on the walkway to Khan's presidential seat. The top three tiers, even if Sky Sports News plays on matchdays, offer glamour, fully Instagrammable. A grand piano is ordered for the third-tier Sky Deck to make it resemble the ballroom of the Titanic in a facility designed by a Parisian outfit whose trade is high-end restaurants and hotels. The scallops, sea bream and Veuve Clicquot menu contrasts pile 'em high football clubs filling punters' bellies with pies and pints. An Agatha Christie chic is added by the fourth tier's slim corridors resembling the Orient Express, a world away from sticky-carpet concourses in other Premier League clubs' corporate facilities, the Gallic type of art-deco, almost nautical setting lifelong Cottager Hugh Grant might be found acting out a period drama. The Riverside looked glorious on a late-spring day though the Cottage can be one of football's chilliest settings when wintry winds whip from the river. As yet, the roof-top swimming pool that has made headlines is unfinished, the promise it will be heated. As Saturday's match kicked off, attention returned to Marco Silva's distant, disappearing hopes of a European place. Until kick-off, football felt a world away.
The Guardian
11-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Opulence on the Thames: Fulham's new Riverside Stand in league of its own
The Premier League has become a place where not just the other half reside but the 1%. If money follows money then England's top tier is a place to be seen, to do business, to entertain, for those who can afford the corporate facilities increasingly important to football's bottom line. On Saturday, before Fulham's loss against Everton, a grand opening of Craven Cottage's Riverside Stand. Its exoskeleton was a feature of the Thames during pandemic times, the bottom of the stand has been in partial service for the past three seasons. When contractor Buckingham Group in September 2023 collapsed it left the interior fit to be completed, plus much of the exterior; Buckingham's collapse also delayed Liverpool's Anfield Road redevelopment. Portview, the fit-out contractor, took control and full rollout comes before Fulham see out the 2024-25 season. 'London's original football club has a new world-class matchday experience,' declares a project embracing 21st-century opulence. The club's chief executive, Alistair Mackintosh said: 'A wonderful location now blessed with wonderful hospitality.' Behind such reaching for the skies is Shad Khan, Fulham's Pakistani-American billionaire owner. 'Shad put the vision on steroids,' said Mackintosh. The project has cost significantly more than its initial pricing of £100m, with officials and architects remaining tight-lipped about the overall cost on launch day. 'A location like no other, a real gamechanger for Fulham Football Club, our neighbourhood, and all of London,' was Khan's ambitious declaration as building began in 2019. The architect, Populous, worked on the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the All-England club. Fulham aim to offer the highest-end, most elite corporate facility in football. Hospitality customers will be charged £3,000 to £20,000 a season over nine tiers with individual match packages on sale. Plus VAT. Not for the faint of wallet, at a club where fans have been protesting against prices, saying not all Fulham fans can afford west London house prices, that the club retains a suburban working-class core of support, despite an outwardly genteel image. 'The decision to implement a modest increase was made with careful consideration,' read a 1 May club statement as 2.8% season-ticket increases were levied. Those used to the Hammersmith End, the Putney End and the Johnny Haynes Stand on Stevenage Road may find the Riverside represents a very different social strata, particularly in the toilets. The Cottage has become a place of contrasts. Opposite the Riverside's architectural modernity is the Johnny Haynes, a surviving creation of Archibald Leitch, the genius Scottish architect whose art deco designs were used at Anfield, Old Trafford, Hampden Park and White Hart Lane, among others. Most of those grand designs have passed into history. Leitch's continued influence is obvious in the Riverside Stand's five tiers, as is that of Thames boathouses. This section of London's main river conjures images of Oxford-Cambridge Boat Races, Ringo Starr's caper with a young scruff during a Hard Day's Night, and romcom scenes from Sliding Doors. Fulham seek to reimagine the Cottage as more than a football ground. 'A venue for everyone, every day of the year,' says Mackintosh. On non-matchdays, south-west London's joggers can run along the Thames Path, under the new stand's decks. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Inside, a range of eateries and bars, private dining rooms are on offer for the highest-end clients. The Brasserie, the Gourmet, the Thames Bar Room, the Originals, the Dugout, and Marker's Bar are subsections of a structure offering outstanding river vistas. Wembley's arches and Stamford Bridge are visible from the decking. On the opposite bank, Barnes Football Club, an important marker of football's development in the late 19th century. Football is not necessarily central to the project. The Thames is the star attraction, not the playing field. Lighthouse Social is a membership scheme for the non-matchdays, with about 600 members added so far. With a local committee, styled as a neighbourhood-friendly scheme, it has a selection process that might be associated with central London's private members' clubs. Its packages, ranging from £750 to £1,250 will not buy a member matchday access, though the expectation and hope is that 20-30% will cross the great divide. Mention of Fulham FC within the new development is minimal, though a small club badge is visible on the walkway to Khan's presidential seat. The top three tiers, even if Sky Sports News plays on matchdays, offer glamour, fully Instagrammable. A grand piano is ordered for the third-tier Sky Deck to make it resemble the ballroom of the Titanic in a facility designed by a Parisian outfit whose trade is high-end restaurants and hotels. The scallops, sea bream and Veuve Clicquot menu contrasts pile 'em high football clubs filling punters' bellies with pies and pints. An Agatha Christie chic is added by the fourth tier's slim corridors resembling the Orient Express, a world away from sticky-carpet concourses in other Premier League clubs' corporate facilities, the Gallic type of art-deco, almost nautical setting lifelong Cottager Hugh Grant might be found acting out a period drama. The Riverside looked glorious on a late-spring day though the Cottage can be one of football's chilliest settings when wintry winds whip from the river. As yet, the roof-top swimming pool that has made headlines is unfinished, the promise it will be heated. As Saturday's match kicked off, attention returned to Marco Silva's distant, disappearing hopes of a European place. Until kick-off, football felt a world away.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Opulence on the Thames: Fulham's new Riverside Stand in league of its own
Spectators in the top-level hospitality tier of Fulham's new Riverside Stand enjoy a drink before the Premier League match between Fulham and Everton. Spectators in the top-level hospitality tier of Fulham's new Riverside Stand enjoy a drink before the Premier League match between Fulham and Everton. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian The Premier League has become a place where not just the other half reside but the 1%. If money follows money then England's top tier is a place to be seen, to do business, to entertain, for those who can afford the corporate facilities increasingly important to football's bottom line. On Saturday, before Fulham's loss against Everton, a grand opening of Craven Cottage's Riverside Stand. Its exoskeleton was a feature of the Thames during pandemic times, the bottom of the stand has been in partial service for the past three seasons. When contractor Buckingham Group in September 2023 collapsed it left the interior fit to be completed, plus much of the exterior; Buckingham's collapse also delayed Liverpool's Anfield Road redevelopment. Portview, the fit-out contractor, took control and full rollout comes before Fulham see out the 2024-25 season. Advertisement 'London's original football club has a new world-class matchday experience,' declares a project embracing 21st-century opulence. The club's chief executive, Alistair Mackintosh said: 'A wonderful location now blessed with wonderful hospitality.' Behind such reaching for the skies is Shad Khan, Fulham's Pakistani-American billionaire owner. 'Shad put the vision on steroids,' said Mackintosh. The project has cost significantly more than its initial pricing of £100m, with officials and architects remaining tight-lipped about the overall cost on launch day. 'A location like no other, a real gamechanger for Fulham Football Club, our neighbourhood, and all of London,' was Khan's ambitious declaration as building began in 2019. The architect, Populous, worked on the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the All-England club. Fulham aim to offer the highest-end, most elite corporate facility in football. Hospitality customers will be charged £3,000 to £20,000 a season over nine tiers with individual match packages on sale. Plus VAT. Not for the faint of wallet, at a club where fans have been protesting against prices, saying not all Fulham fans can afford west London house prices, that the club retains a suburban working-class core of support, despite an outwardly genteel image. 'The decision to implement a modest increase was made with careful consideration,' read a 1 May club statement as 2.8% season-ticket increases were levied. Those used to the Hammersmith End, the Putney End and the Johnny Haynes Stand on Stevenage Road may find the Riverside represents a very different social strata, particularly in the toilets. Advertisement The Cottage has become a place of contrasts. Opposite the Riverside's architectural modernity is the Johnny Haynes, a surviving creation of Archibald Leitch, the genius Scottish architect whose art deco designs were used at Anfield, Old Trafford, Hampden Park and White Hart Lane, among others. Most of those grand designs have passed into history. Leitch's continued influence is obvious in the Riverside Stand's five tiers, as is that of Thames boathouses. This section of London's main river conjures images of Oxford-Cambridge Boat Races, Ringo Starr's caper with a young scruff during a Hard Day's Night, and romcom scenes from Sliding Doors. Fulham seek to reimagine the Cottage as more than a football ground. 'A venue for everyone, every day of the year,' says Mackintosh. On non-matchdays, south-west London's joggers can run along the Thames Path, under the new stand's decks. Inside, a range of eateries and bars, private dining rooms are on offer for the highest-end clients. The Brasserie, the Gourmet, the Thames Bar Room, the Originals, the Dugout, and Marker's Bar are subsections of a structure offering outstanding river vistas. Wembley's arches and Stamford Bridge are visible from the decking. On the opposite bank, Barnes Football Club, an important marker of football's development in the late 19th century. Advertisement Football is not necessarily central to the project. The Thames is the star attraction, not the playing field. Lighthouse Social is a membership scheme for the non-matchdays, with about 600 members added so far. With a local committee, styled as a neighbourhood-friendly scheme, it has a selection process that might be associated with central London's private members' clubs. Its packages, ranging from £750 to £1,250 will not buy a member matchday access, though the expectation and hope is that 20-30% will cross the great divide. Mention of Fulham FC within the new development is minimal, though a small club badge is visible on the walkway to Khan's presidential seat. The top three tiers, even if Sky Sports News plays on matchdays, offer glamour, fully Instagrammable. A grand piano is ordered for the third-tier Sky Deck to make it resemble the ballroom of the Titanic in a facility designed by a Parisian outfit whose trade is high-end restaurants and hotels. The scallops, sea bream and Veuve Clicquot menu contrasts pile 'em high football clubs filling punters' bellies with pies and pints. An Agatha Christie chic is added by the fourth tier's slim corridors resembling the Orient Express, a world away from sticky-carpet concourses in other Premier League clubs' corporate facilities, the Gallic type of art-deco, almost nautical setting lifelong Cottager Hugh Grant might be found acting out a period drama. The Riverside looked glorious on a late-spring day though the Cottage can be one of football's chilliest settings when wintry winds whip from the river. As yet, the roof-top swimming pool that has made headlines is unfinished, the promise it will be heated. As Saturday's match kicked off, attention returned to Marco Silva's distant, disappearing hopes of a European place. Until kick-off, football felt a world away.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Sadiq Khan spends £942m on trains stuck in Spain
Sir Sadiq Khan has spent an estimated £942 million on new trains for London – yet almost all of them are stuck in Spain. New rolling stock for the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is supposed to start operating in passenger service by spring this year, eight years after it was first ordered. But 36 of the 40 trains built to date are languishing in the factory of their Spanish maker, CAF, because there is not enough room for them in London. A total of 54 have been ordered to replace the current DLR trains, which are reaching the end of their 30-year service lives. Transport for London (TfL), chaired by the London mayor, blamed 'our main contractor to build the required depot going into administration' last year. Buckingham Group collapsed while owing a reported £103 million to creditors in 2023, with a spokesman telling the BBC at the time that 'extreme inflation linked to the Ukraine conflict' was the cause. In addition to a high-profile contract to renovate Liverpool FC's Anfield stadium, Buckingham Group was also responsible for building an extension to the DLR's Beckton depot in east London. Those works grinding to a halt have delayed the introduction of the new trains because there is not enough space to run the old and new fleets side by side, TfL said. Testing was also delayed after one of the new trains skidded through a stop signal during 'low adhesion conditions' in November 2023. While nobody was injured, engineers later realised that other trains carrying passengers could potentially do the same thing – forcing authorities to temporarily pause trials while they lowered speed limits on other parts of the DLR network. Meanwhile, the cost of the London light rail network's new trains has jumped almost £100 million over the last eight months, up from £880 million last June to £942 million. The latest price increase of £35 million was reported to Transport for London's Programmes and Investment Committee in December 2024, following a £61 million jump last summer. A TfL spokesman said: 'We're introducing 54 new trains to replace the 33 oldest trains in our fleet, some of which are more than 30 years old. 'The new trains will help us to improve the frequency and reliability of services and support population and employment growth across the network, particularly in parts of the Royal Docks and the Isle of Dogs where the DLR is the main transport option. 'These trains are being kept in storage in Spain while we wait for them to come into service. The delay in them coming to the UK was partially due to the signalling issues but also a result of our main contractor to build the required depot going into administration. 'We're working hard to ensure they come into service as quickly as possible and before the end of this year.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
