St David's, Cardiff facts for kids
 St. David's second phase on The Hayes. The Hayes Apartments on the upper levels |
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| Location | Cardiff, Wales |
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| Opening date | 24 March 1982 (phase 1) 22 October 2009 (phase 2) |
| Developer | St David's Partnership and Land Securities Group (50%)) |
| Owner | Landsec Cardiff Council (Freeholder) Linc-Cymru Housing Association (Barrack Lane) |
| Architect | Benoy (phase 2) Building Design Partnership (library) Glenn Howells (Hayes Apartments) |
| No. of stores and services | 203 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 4 (Boots, Marks & Spencer, Primark and John Lewis) |
| Total retail floor area | 129,561 m2 (1,394,580 sq ft) |
| No. of floors | 9 (2 shopping levels, 1 restaurant seating level and 6 car park levels) |
| Parking | 2,550 |
St David's (Welsh: Dewi Sant) is a major shopping centre in the city of Cardiff, Wales. It is located in The Hayes area, which is in the southern part of the city centre. After a big expansion in 2009, St David's became the third busiest shopping centre in the United Kingdom.
The expansion project cost a lot of money, about £675 million. This made Cardiff one of the top five shopping cities in the United Kingdom. The centre has two main parts: the original St David's Centre, which is next to St David's Hall, and the newer part, called St David's 2 during its construction. The second part of the shopping centre opened on 22 October 2009. At that time, 58 out of its 88 new stores were ready for shoppers.
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History of St David's Shopping Centre
In 2008–2009, about 27 million people visited the centre. This number was expected to grow to 33 million in 2009–2010. In fact, 20 million people visited the centre in just the first six months after the St David's 2 expansion opened.
St David's was named the international shopping centre of the year in 2010. It won this award from Global Retail Leisure International, beating other big centres in places like Portugal and Singapore.
To help with medical emergencies, three paramedics on bicycles patrolled St David's and other centres. They did this every Friday to Sunday in 2009, so they could quickly respond if someone needed help.
The First Part of St David's
The original St David's Shopping Centre first opened to the public in January 1981. However, its official grand opening was on 24 March 1982. This part of the centre has four entrances. You can enter from Queen Street, Cathedral Walk, Working Street, and Hills Street. The entrance on Hills Street connects to the newer part of the shopping centre. You can go between them at street level or by an enclosed bridge on the first floor. It is also connected inside to Queens Arcade.
Inside the first centre, there are three main paths or walkways: Town Wall, Cathedral Walk, and St David's Way. Millions of people visit the centre every year. Many people who live nearby visit often. Also, the 12 million tourists who visit Cardiff each year help the shops make a lot of money. This first part of St David's has 75 different shops and stores. In 2007, some of the main stores were Boots, Debenhams, Marks & Spencer, and Primark. Interestingly, St David's Hall, a concert venue, was built right on top of this shopping centre.
The Second Part: St David's 2 Expansion
(St David's Link)
St David's, along with much of the southern part of Cardiff city centre's shopping area, was completely redeveloped. This was part of the huge St David's 2 project.
This second phase was a massive £675 million expansion of the centre. To make way for it, a large part of Cardiff's south city centre was taken down. Buildings like Oxford Arcade, St David's Market, and the old Cardiff Central Library were demolished. The Wales National Ice Rink was also removed, and a Toys "R" Us store moved to a new location. During construction, this part was called St David's 2. But once it was finished, both the old and new parts were simply called "St David's".
The second phase includes three main buildings. There's the new Central Library building, a large John Lewis department store, and the main new shopping area. Above the main shopping centre, there are also apartments called Hayes Apartments.
The second phase was divided into several areas:
- St David's Walk leads to the expanded Debenhams store and the Grand Arcade.
- St David's Way is part of the original St David's centre.
- Grand Arcade connects St David's Walk (in the original centre) to the John Lewis store. This arcade has two floors.
- The Upper Grand Arcade and The Lower Grand Arcade have many shops.
- Eastside is the area with restaurants and cafes in the new part of the centre. It also has two levels.
- Working Street is part of the outside of St David's Hall. This section was changed to have shop fronts that match the look of the St David's Centre entrance.
- The first Welsh branch of the John Lewis department store opened in 2009. It is the largest John Lewis store in the UK outside of London. This store opened four weeks before the main St David's Grand Arcade shopping area.
The St David's 2 expansion added a huge amount of new retail space to the city centre. This included the large John Lewis department store, nine other big stores, and 90 smaller shops. It also created 3,000 new car parking spaces, new bars, and restaurants. The new Cardiff Central Library was also part of this development. The project created 4,500 permanent jobs. The expansion also included two new arcades, Grand Arcade and Hayes Arcade. These were designed to look like Cardiff's older, historic Victorian arcades.
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The goal of this big project was to make Cardiff one of the top five shopping places in the United Kingdom. Many of the shops in the new part of the centre were new to Cardiff and even to Wales. These included well-known brands like John Lewis, Apple, Hollister, and Victoria's Secret.
Cardiff Central Library
The old Central Library was a few hundred yards north of where the new building is now. It was knocked down to make space for the St David's 2 development. The brand new Central Library opened its doors on 14 March 2009.
Alliance Sculpture
Alliance is a tall sculpture, about 25 metres (82 feet) high, located in The Hayes. The sculpture is made of stainless steel and metal with enamel. It has a large arrow column and a hoop that glows in the dark. The hoop moves up and down with the tide. The St David's shopping centre paid for this sculpture as part of a £1.5 million plan for public art in the city centre. It was placed in the area between the new shopping centre and Cardiff Central Library.
Hayes Apartments
Hayes Apartments are residential buildings that are part of the St David's redevelopment. They are a joint project between Land Securities and Capital Shopping Centres. There are 304 apartments located above the shopping centre, spread across seven blocks. The apartments include studio flats, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom homes. The architects for Hayes Apartments were Glenn Howells Architects. The apartments also have private courtyard gardens designed by Hyland Edgar Driver. These gardens are built on the rooftop of the shopping centre.
The first residents moved into Hayes Apartments in the summer of 2010. Sales for the first two phases were completed by the end of 2010, and sales then began for the third phase, which is the largest block. The entire apartment development was planned to be finished by 2012.
Barrack Lane Retail Quarter
The Barrack Lane Retail Quarter is a development that includes both homes and shops. It is part of the larger St David's project. This area has nine shop units and 27 apartments. It is owned and managed by Linc-Cymru Housing Association. This organization focuses on providing affordable housing in Wales.
St David's Logos and Identity
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The 1st phase logo
Used during the construction phase
The initial "people" design
The final "dots" design introduced Oct 2009
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Johnson Banks Design Ltd was hired by Capital Shopping Centres and Land Securities to create a new logo and brand identity for the new St David's shopping centre. The designers explained their idea:
The main idea behind the identity is that many people will gather and use the new centre as a meeting place. Our "people" diagrams quickly became the start of the whole design... These "people," simplified into dots, became the connecting part of a design that is used across many things, from fonts to symbols and images.
How to Get There by Train
You can easily reach St David's by train using these stations:
- Cardiff Central
- Cardiff Queen Street
