Yr Ogof Arts Centre
The brief for this project was to design an exciting new waterside arts centre, based on the development of a vacant site located on Britannia Quay, Cardiff Bay.
The local orthogonal landscape grid pattern, clearly visible in aerial photographs of Cardiff Bay, has influenced the design form and layout in various ways, such as the shape of the floors in the Atrium space of the building, and in the external landscaping. The arts centre will include a flexible performance space with retractable seating, providing a large and open activity space in addition to a theatre. There will also be a large Gallery space, which provides opportunity for temporary partitions to be erected, making the space flexible for various art shows and exhibitions to be displayed. The exterior of the building is clad in oxidised copper cladding, giving the exterior a dark and heavy look. The chosen name, ‘Yr Ogof’ is the Welsh translation for ‘The Cave’, this relates to part of the precedent studies and design influence, which is basalt rock formation. Basalt can be found formed as columns, often in caves, and along the coast, such as Fingal’s Cave, on the coast of Staffa, Scotland, or Giants Causeway, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The top of the external walls, is designed to reflect the symmetrical pillars of the basalt columns, thus making the entire building appear to have grown from the earth.
