Wales Millennium Centre

After the Cardiff Bay Opera House project was rejected, a new project was conceived that included more than opera and was felt to be a better reflection of Welsh culture. The change of name symbolised this, but the project still had to overcome many hurdles. Funding from the Welsh Assembly and Millennium Commission took years to obtain. Cardiff Council had to buy the land after the previous owner, Grosvenor Waterside (the property division of Associated British Ports) threatened to build a retail centre there due to the delays. Further boosts were given by large donations from South African businessman Donald Gordon and a loan from the international bank, HSBC. The £20 million donation from…

Wales Millennium Centre was designed by Jonathan Adams of local practice Percy Thomas Architects (taken over by Capita Group in 2004), with Arup Acoustics as the acoustic designer and building engineer. His first concept drawings were made in early 1998, Kelsey Roofing Industries Ltd was the roofing contractor, and Carr and Angier were theatre consultants. The building was designed to reflect many different parts of Wales with local Welsh materials that dominate its history: slate, metal, wood and glass. Many of the materials used come from Wales, including 1,350 tonnes of Welsh slate. A million metres of electric cable and 300,000 concrete blocks were also used in construction. Slate The…

Wales Millennium Centre replaced an earlier project for the site, the Cardiff Bay Opera House, a plan supported by the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation to construct a permanent home for the Welsh National Opera. An international design competition attracted 268 international applicants, and was won by Iraq-born architect Zaha Hadid. Her avant-garde design was so radical that she and a selection of other applicants were asked to submit revised designs for a second round of competition—which she again won with "a sleek and dazzling complex of sharp lines and surfaces that she compared to an 'inverted necklace'". In December 1995 the Millennium Commission, the body which distributed funds…