Residents Welcome Completion of Phase Two of Loudoun Square Regeneration

Press release courtesy of Cardiff Community Housing Association

Another key milestone in the £13m regeneration of Butetown takes place on Monday with the official opening of @Loudoun - a multi-functional building offering a host of services for the local community.

@Loudoun is home to a new state of the art health centre, a new Culture and Media Centre, three social enterprise units and Cardiff Council’s BEST and Hub information services.

The project is a collaboration between Cardiff Community Housing Association (CCHA), Cardiff Council and the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board. It is being developed by the Leadbitter Group.

The new Butetown Health Centre provides the local community with a whole host of services under one roof including two GP practices and a dental practice all with extra capacity for additional patients. The primary care element of this facility also includes an integral community pharmacy.

Community health services are also available including a dental surgery, District Nursing, Health Visiting, Child Health, Podiatry, Dietetics, Audiology, Sexual Health and Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia services.

Health Minister Lesley Griffiths will attend the official opening and welcomes the provision of the new integrated health centre. She said:

“Health services are at the heart of this excellent community development.  @Loudoun won’t just deliver economic and social benefits, but a range of high quality, accessible health services, working together to serve the needs of the local community.”

Paul Hollard, Interim Chief Executive, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board (UHB) added:

"I am delighted that the UHB has able to provide such a comprehensive range of primary and community health services for the residents of Butetown, in one facility, @Loudoun.  This is the culmination of a major work programme across a number of partners and I am extremely grateful to all those who have worked so hard on this project to make the vision a reality. "

A community cinema, digital film making suite, celebration space and training and meeting rooms all make up an exciting new culture and media centre – CMC@ Loudoun. Designed to be as flexible as possible, this space will form a creative hub for a wide range of community activities.

Three social enterprise units provide affordable office accommodation for hire by local services providers or those wishing to set up a business.

Kevin Protheroe, Chief Executive of CCHA said: “The opening of @Loudoun is significant for all partners involved, especially the local community.

They now have access to high quality health, information and recreational services all under one roof. Our new culture and media centre offers free weekly film screenings for local residents, access to creative projects, space for community group activities and meeting and training rooms. We firmly believe that @Loudoun will have a big impact on the regeneration of Loudoun Square.”

Council services are also available including ‘The Hub at Butetown’, a 'one stop' for Council services located on the ground floor and the BEST centre, a training and enterprise service which provides help for jobseekers to find or train for work and career advice and guidance for those in or out of work on the first floor.

Designed by architects Austin Smith Lord the building is accessed via a bright airy atrium which leads to the health centre, pharmacy, culture and media centre and enterprise units.

Architect Dennis Hellyar of Austin-Smith:Lord said: “This is a very proud moment for us. It represents several years of work on a key project which will revitalize this area of Cardiff. The new facilities will create opportunities for local people, and will play an important role in improving the quality of life, in leisure, health and work. We are delighted to have been responsible for helping to create this vision of the future for the community.”

The atrium features a large photographic image created from a montage of photographs taken from the roofs of the nearby tower blocks by artists Anna Heinrich and Leon Palmer. This helps maintains a link with the old Loudoun Square and provides a sense of place for the new building. They also designed a vibrant glass cube which forms the entrance to the building.

Work on the three-year scheme started in June 2010 following four years of community consultation and planning. The area was first developed in the1960s but had declined in recent years.

@Loudoun is built on the site of former run down 1960’s shopping centre and derelict maisonettes. The challenge was to develop the site but keep disruption to local businesses and residents to a minimum.

The outcome was an innovative, phased approach, which involved building 13 new houses first, so that the local businesses could be decanted into the ground floors of these properties, enabling them to trade without loss of business.

The parade of 11 new retails units were completed last November and the 13 family homes will be occupied from late June.

Leadbitter’s commitment to the community during the development has been recognised with a Gold Considerate Constructors Scheme award.

Charlie Scherer, Regional Director, Leadbitter’s West and Wales Housing division, said: “We are extremely proud to have been involved in this hugely successful regeneration programme and it gives us great pleasure to see this fantastic health centre handed over for use by the local community.

“Winning the hearts and minds of locals can be the key to success in a regeneration project. Without community buy-in, it is difficult to create a genuinely sustainable development. Here we have been able to give residents a sense of identity, pride and belonging, which has been achieved through a combination of good design, quality construction and first rate community engagement.”

The final phase of the project involves the demolition of the dilapidated 1960’s Butetown health centre and completion of 48 apartments, 13 of which are specifically designed for disabled people and is due for completion in March 2013.

For further details please visit www.loudounsquare.org.uk