Cardiff Bay Visitor Centre | |
---|---|
![]() The Tube in 2008 | |
Alternative names | The Tube |
General information | |
Status | Dismantled |
Location | Cardiff Bay |
Town or city | Cardiff |
Country | Wales |
Completed | 1991 |
Demolished | 2010 |
Client | CBDC |
Design and construction | |
Architecture firm | Alsop, Lyall & Stormer [1] |
Awards and prizes |
RIBA Regional Award (1991) RIBA National Award (1992) [2] |
Cardiff Bay Visitor Centre (known informally as "the Tube") was a piece of modern architecture designed by the architect Wil Alsop for Cardiff Bay, Wales, in 1990. It was finally dismantled in 2010. A panel of architectural experts has said the building "single-handedly put Cardiff on the architectural map". [3]
Architect Wil Alsop was already involved in the development of the Cardiff Bay Barrage when asked, by the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation (CBDC), to design a visitors' centre. The building was completed during the Summer of 1990, [4] located close to the Victorian Pierhead Building. [1] It cost somewhere between £350,000 [4] and £500,000 [5] and was intended to last only five years. [1] [5]
The new building was in the shape of a long flattened tube, glazed at each end. Alsop liked to compare its shape to a disposable cigarette lighter. [4] It was constructed using a series of oval steel ribs, clad with marine plywood and covered with external skin of PVC sheeting. [4] [6] Ripple-like slots were cut into the plywood, allowing dappled daylight into the interior. [1] It was shortlisted for the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Building of the Year award (forerunner of the Stirling Prize). [4]
The visitor centre was built to house an exhibition about the new Cardiff Bay development. [4] In 1993 the building needed to be moved from its location east of the Pierhead Building. Rather than permanently dismantle it, the structure was put on the back of a low-loader truck and moved to another part of the Bay. [4] It continued to house interactive exhibitions and a scale model of Cardiff. [7]
Because of its distinctive shape, the visitor centre became known locally as 'The Tube'. [5] [7] In 2009 it was listed ninth in the Top Ten free attractions in Wales. [8]
Cardiff Bay Visitor Centre was listed by a panel of experts as one of the Top 50 Buildings of the 1990s, saying the building had "single-handedly put Cardiff on the architectural map". [3]
In 2006 the building's operators, Cardiff Initiative, ceased trading and The Tube closed for several weeks, reopening under the management of Cardiff Council. [7]
The Tube was finally dismantled (and put into storage) in Autumn 2010 to make way for a new link road. [5] "I'm surprised it's lasted this long," said original project architect John Lyall. [5]