A MILLION, though? A third of Wales' entire population?
St Davids 2
- Thread starter Ranbay
- Start date
A MILLION, though? A third of Wales' entire population?
Nice bit of perspective, there, Ddarchir & Ddraig.
That'sa LOT of people. I hadn't thought about it before, but that does sound like rubbish. The equivalent of three international-match crowds in one small part of Cardiff every day for three days. Sounds like complete bullshit. And the Echo just lapped up the press release and slapped it on the front page.
Nice bit of perspective, there, Ddarchir & Ddraig.
That'sa LOT of people. I hadn't thought about it before, but that does sound like rubbish. The equivalent of three international-match crowds in one small part of Cardiff every day for three days. Sounds like complete bullshit. And the Echo just lapped up the press release and slapped it on the front page.
Media Wales' journalistic standards seem to be slipping further each day. The front page headline of the 'Echo Extra' (The Post) last week was just: "CENTRE IS SO IMPRESSIVE".
I looked at that for a good minute, trying to take it in.
Nice bit of perspective, there, Ddarchir & Ddraig.
That'sa LOT of people. I hadn't thought about it before, but that does sound like rubbish. The equivalent of three international-match crowds in one small part of Cardiff every day for three days. Sounds like complete bullshit. And the Echo just lapped up the press release and slapped it on the front page.
I thought about this some more... even in the very unlikely event that all of those million people returned every day, meaning there were 333,333 unique visitors. That would still mean 1 in 10 people in the whole of Wales visited in the first 3 days.
Surely SOMEONE at the Echo must have noticed this?
(And, I know 3/4 people who went in the first 3 days)
Riklet
procrastinación
It got finished off pretty fast, only took a week from a concrete shell to become an bustling soulless hub of things, people n pricetags, absolutely devoid of anything particularly interesting.
Ah well. It's a John Lewis for Wales, woopty dooo, wrongs are finally being righted. Considering it's a big fucking shopping centre full of people, it's not "that" bad, I had a bit of a wander anyway. There are already loads of crappy bland same-as-everywhere-else shops in Cardiff though, so I can't say the place is in the slightest bit challenging. The architecture isn't bad, although I prefer the library, that really is a wicked building. John Lewis I actually think looks quite good, kinda like the "plasma TV" style design. Moths to the light
I have actually bought some jeans from H&M there and revelled in how different it was from the other one... like.... the escalators don't work properly. Pretty amazing man
ooo i am excited about going for a piss in the new bogs though. I quite liked the dingy grimey ones with "I FUCK ARSES" everywhere, but maybe the new ones will have those wicked "dip your hands" driers. Those warm my soul for some pathetic reason!
Ah well. It's a John Lewis for Wales, woopty dooo, wrongs are finally being righted. Considering it's a big fucking shopping centre full of people, it's not "that" bad, I had a bit of a wander anyway. There are already loads of crappy bland same-as-everywhere-else shops in Cardiff though, so I can't say the place is in the slightest bit challenging. The architecture isn't bad, although I prefer the library, that really is a wicked building. John Lewis I actually think looks quite good, kinda like the "plasma TV" style design. Moths to the light
I have actually bought some jeans from H&M there and revelled in how different it was from the other one... like.... the escalators don't work properly. Pretty amazing man
ooo i am excited about going for a piss in the new bogs though. I quite liked the dingy grimey ones with "I FUCK ARSES" everywhere, but maybe the new ones will have those wicked "dip your hands" driers. Those warm my soul for some pathetic reason!
not into the shops at all and I think cities trying to compete on retail is a downward spiral and really unimaginative - all the big ass shopping centres that opened up the last while (bristol, bath, glos etc) are going to struggle.
BUT
the big open space around the hayes/mill lane is really great and I hope it stays a safe place for people to wander/meet-up at night.
BUT
the big open space around the hayes/mill lane is really great and I hope it stays a safe place for people to wander/meet-up at night.
I went on Friday.
Going to Cardiff makes me feel enough of a country mouse as it is (I'm not - I grew up in the Metropopopolis, dammit
), but going into that there Saint Davids Two place was...weird.
It is a bit like a cathedral, but a cathedral to Mammon (and I'm all for a bit of gratuitous spending now and again!). I don't really like shopping centres, although I must admit that, as they go, it's a pretty impressive one.
I do worry that all that will happen is that even more life will be sucked out of the rest of the city as everybody swallows the self-fulfilling truism that they have to move to St Davids or die...
Going to Cardiff makes me feel enough of a country mouse as it is (I'm not - I grew up in the Metropopopolis, dammit
), but going into that there Saint Davids Two place was...weird.It is a bit like a cathedral, but a cathedral to Mammon (and I'm all for a bit of gratuitous spending now and again!). I don't really like shopping centres, although I must admit that, as they go, it's a pretty impressive one.
I do worry that all that will happen is that even more life will be sucked out of the rest of the city as everybody swallows the self-fulfilling truism that they have to move to St Davids or die...
ddraig
kicking against the pricks...
went yesterday for a looksee
not many shops in there really, very limited food selection as well. how are nandos (3rd one in Cardiff) pizza express (3rd one in Cardiff) and YO sushi (1st one ion Cardiff) 'exciting' and 'innovative'
and they cliam wagamama and GBK as part of it down to showing you how to get there on touch screen map. nifty enough.
the shops seemed very spaced out, might be a case for it being smaller to begin with.
it's ok as shopping cathedrals go but i was quite underwhelmed after all the hype.
the only bit that 'worked' was how they've fitted it into the space and joined up with other bits. still, a 3rd of the city centre is bollocks and too much to dedicate to one building. the link bridge was shite and dissapointing
overall
£270 odd million, what the fuck for, years of disruption and mess in town, a few low paid jobs to service multinational profits, was it worth it? NO
not many shops in there really, very limited food selection as well. how are nandos (3rd one in Cardiff) pizza express (3rd one in Cardiff) and YO sushi (1st one ion Cardiff) 'exciting' and 'innovative'
and they cliam wagamama and GBK as part of it down to showing you how to get there on touch screen map. nifty enough.
the shops seemed very spaced out, might be a case for it being smaller to begin with.
it's ok as shopping cathedrals go but i was quite underwhelmed after all the hype.
the only bit that 'worked' was how they've fitted it into the space and joined up with other bits. still, a 3rd of the city centre is bollocks and too much to dedicate to one building. the link bridge was shite and dissapointing
overall
LilMissHissyFit
Disturbed in a pink bra
My OH hadnt ever been to Cardiff and kinda looked sideways at me
when I pointed to the Hayes mens room and said "You needed a loo? Nice loo's these ones"He spent ages in there and then came out saying it was a pleasure to take a leak in there and he'd been such a long time because he was amazed by all the details, the original fittings, he'd never seen anything quite like it
Col_Buendia
sort code
OK, so the most impressive thing about SD2 are the "new" old bogs outside. I'm yearning to get down for a look now
ddraig
kicking against the pricks...
OK, so the most impressive thing about SD2 are the "new" old bogs outside. I'm yearning to get down for a look now
you'll love it! sure i glimpsed a posh kettle in there somewhere
Col_Buendia
sort code
Surprised you didn't break it, then!
Col_Buendia
sort code
Jesus, I went down there yesterday, finally, for the 1st time with the family. What a total disappointment. I genuinely set my anti-capitalist prejudices to one side and just went to look at it and decide whether it was a half decent space or not. But there was no need even to worry over my own prejudices - the building is shite from top to bottom. Architecturally, from the inside, it is possibly the most mundane and boring distribution of space possible. I'd love to know what made Agnesdavies feel it was "pretty impressive"...
When you enter into it, it is basically one long corridor stretching out in front of you. And a fairly narrow corridor at that. It feels like a rat race, with not enough room for the "millions" of punters who are elbowing each other out of their way. There is no social space in the place: no benches for people who want to just rest, no features, no nothing apart from window after window of shops. Relentless. The only place I saw people sitting and doing anything else apart from browsing was at the Costa Coffee terrace.
Granted the open space outside it, down the side of Habitat, is lovely and makes the Hayes feel like a suddenly important space, but that was the only saving grace.
Then we went through to John Lewis... and upon returning into the SD2, what were we met with? The back of the escalators! What an architectural triumph - come in the back way and walk straight into a huge obstacle. It's bonkers how incredibly unimaginative this space is.
I'm not really a huge fan of shopping centres, but until society comes up with a better way of distributing its goods, we might as well have half decent ones. May I make a case for the Victoria Square Centre in Belfast (where else?) Have a look at the pics here: http://www.victoriasquare.com/gallery.aspx#images/sce/gallery/victoria-square-inside.jpg
It only opened a few years ago, but it has a huge open space on the inside, very striking architecture, and the most gorgeous, superfluous, "dome" on the top - take the lift to the top floor and you have a viewing platform inside a glass bubble from which to enjoy the panoramic view of Belfast. Utterly excessive, but absolutely glorious on a clear day (and there's *nothing* else there, apart from an ice-cream stall), and something that perhaps suggests that the people who are invited into the shopping centre are not just being treated as cash cows. SD2 looks more like a milking parlour than somewhere 1/3 of the Welsh population should want to go to on a weekly basis
When you enter into it, it is basically one long corridor stretching out in front of you. And a fairly narrow corridor at that. It feels like a rat race, with not enough room for the "millions" of punters who are elbowing each other out of their way. There is no social space in the place: no benches for people who want to just rest, no features, no nothing apart from window after window of shops. Relentless. The only place I saw people sitting and doing anything else apart from browsing was at the Costa Coffee terrace.
Granted the open space outside it, down the side of Habitat, is lovely and makes the Hayes feel like a suddenly important space, but that was the only saving grace.
Then we went through to John Lewis... and upon returning into the SD2, what were we met with? The back of the escalators! What an architectural triumph - come in the back way and walk straight into a huge obstacle. It's bonkers how incredibly unimaginative this space is.
I'm not really a huge fan of shopping centres, but until society comes up with a better way of distributing its goods, we might as well have half decent ones. May I make a case for the Victoria Square Centre in Belfast (where else?
) Have a look at the pics here: http://www.victoriasquare.com/gallery.aspx#images/sce/gallery/victoria-square-inside.jpgIt only opened a few years ago, but it has a huge open space on the inside, very striking architecture, and the most gorgeous, superfluous, "dome" on the top - take the lift to the top floor and you have a viewing platform inside a glass bubble from which to enjoy the panoramic view of Belfast. Utterly excessive, but absolutely glorious on a clear day (and there's *nothing* else there, apart from an ice-cream stall
), and something that perhaps suggests that the people who are invited into the shopping centre are not just being treated as cash cows. SD2 looks more like a milking parlour than somewhere 1/3 of the Welsh population should want to go to on a weekly basis Similar threads
