A DATED office building in Llanelli could be transformed into an apartment block bedecked with greenery and a rooftop garden.
Hacer Developments, which is close to completing a similar but larger project in Swansea, is behind the proposals for Crown Buildings, Llanelli.
The Church Street site comprises a five-storey office block from the 1970s with extensions, plus an adjacent three-storey building and car park.
Hacer Developments proposes converting the main block into 30 affordable flats, modernising the exterior, and knocking down the adjacent building.
Integral to the plans is the concept of a biophilic – or green, living – building. The rooftop of the apartments would have trees, shrubs, patches of grass and potentially a residents’ growing area, according to planning documents, and there’d be a landscaped internal courtyard.
The flats would mainly be one and two-bedroom, and 34 parking spaces would be provided along with 10 interior bike racks.
Planning agent Geraint John Planning is carrying out a pre-application consultation on behalf of Hacer Developments ahead of a submission of a full planning application to Carmarthenshire Council. The consultation runs until June 4.
A design and access statement prepared by Geraint John Planning said the proposed appearance of the converted building had been designed taking into account its proximity to Llanelli Conservation Area.
It added: “The anti-social behaviour associated with the area is also unlikely to be tackled without significant redevelopment, and therefore, in its current form, the site is considered unsuitable for a major employment use.”
Crown Buildings used to be a Department for Work and Pensions office. Television production company Tinopolis had considered a move to the site from its current Llanelli base but decided against it. The company said it was still looking at its options.
The pre-application documents include transport, ecology and flood consequence assessments. Further landscaping details will be published in due course.
Hacer Developments’ biophilic project in Swansea city centre comprises a 12-storey tower, 50 flats, a four-storey greenhouse, rooftop gardens and solar panels, commercial and education space, and a landscaped courtyard. Part of it is replacing the former Woolworths store on Oxford Street. It’s expected to be completed this summer.
