St Marys House is an office building on the corner of Penarth Road and Trade Street in Cardiff. It was purpose-built by Rightacres Property Ltd for Arriva Trains Wales (later Transport for Wales) in the early 2000s.
The accommodation comprises 4 floors of office space, ancillary facilities, and a car park.
The original entrance to St Marys House was on Penarth Road, via a narrow ramp and stairs under a canopy. For flood defence reasons, the ground floor accommodation sits 400mm above pavement level.
The Problem
The reception space appeared very compact, poorly lit, and unwelcoming. It was designed purely for use by the employees and not with visitors in mind.
The original tenants left in the summer of 2021. And the building owner recognised the need to improve the reception space in order to attract new tenants. So they asked us for ideas to reshape the ground floor accommodation. The brief was to create a new vision for the entrance and reception which would be attractive to new tenants.
Our Approach
From careful research, we were aware of proposed new developments in the area, including the planned improvements to Trade Street. Therefore, our key design move was to relocate the entrance from the traffic-laden Penarth Road side to the more pedestrian-friendly Trade Street.
The existing bin store position on Trade Street offered an opportunity to create a new level access entrance flush with the pavement. We enlarged the existing opening to create a new glazed entrance, and designed a new cantilevered translucent canopy. This runs from the new entrance back to Penarth Road to act as the visual marker for the entrance.
Internally, we moved the bin store further into the car park. A new WC and shower block were also created here. Due to the building’s location in close proximity to Cardiff Central station, the owner was happy to reduce the amount of parking to provide better facilities for the new reception.
The End Result
An internal ramp, large meeting room and modern reception desk complete the transformation of the reception area. Together, this creates a new space over 100 sq.m. bigger than the original.
Repainting and tidying up offices with new kitchen areas has been a big success. The opened-up spaces have created large open-plan floors, many offering fantastic views of new nearby developments.