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The Maritime Quarter (including Swansea Marina) is a residential area of
Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...
,
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
, immediately south of the
city centre A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...
shopping core. It falls within Swansea's
Castle ward Castle Ward is an 18th-century National Trust property located near the village of Strangford, in County Down, Northern Ireland, in the townland of the same name. It overlooks Strangford Lough and is 7 miles from Downpatrick and 1.5 miles fro ...
. The area is bounded by Brynmill to the west,
Swansea Bay Swansea Bay () is a bay on the southern coast of Wales. The River Neath, River Tawe, River Afan, River Kenfig and Clyne River flow into the bay. Swansea Bay and the upper reaches of the Bristol Channel experience a large tidal range. The sh ...
to the South, the River Tawe to the east and the A4067 to the north. The area comprises a mixture of housing ranging from 1980s low-rise apartment blocks around the old South Dock to town houses arranged in quadrangles in the south-eastern part of the area, which were built in the 2000s decade. Planning approval for the marina was given on condition that a significant proportion of the development be sold to
housing associations In Ireland and the United Kingdom, housing associations are private, Non-profit organization, non-profit organisations that provide low-cost "Public housing in the United Kingdom, social housing" for people in need of a home. Any budget surpl ...
for social housing. The tallest building in Wales, the Meridian Quay Tower, is in the area.


History

The South Dock area underwent significant
brownfield Brownfield is previously-developed land that has been abandoned or underused, and which may carry pollution, or a risk of pollution, from industrial use. The specific definition of brownfield land varies and is decided by policy makers and l ...
re-development in the early 1980s, with the building of many low-rise
apartment block A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdiction. ...
s around the former dock. On the site of the
Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...
superstore, once stood the six-storey
Weaver building The Weaver building was a flour mill and corn storage building which stood alongside the half-tide basin of the Swansea docks, North Dock in Swansea, South Wales between 1897 and 1984, and was notable as an early reinforced concrete structure. ...
. Built in 1897 by the French architect François Hennebique, it was used for corn storage and was the first steel
reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...
building built in Europe. Originally the city council decided to fill in the South Dock. This was done by a developer whose brother was a councillor at the local council. Later on, the same company was paid to dig out the South Dock again to create the marina. The developer is now imprisoned in Swansea Prison. The re-excavated South Dock was laid out into the award-winning Maritime Quarter by architect Robin Campbell, then head of Environmental Design at Swansea Council. The brief was to make the area an extension of Swansea city centre, and not a separate suburb, and to create walkways through the overall development being created by several building companies. However, due to the busy thoroughfare of Quay Parade/Oystermouth Road, the Marina area remains separate from the city centre. Campbell also worked in partnership with the developers to incorporate art designed by local artists into the buildings, and the creation of an observatory.


Marina

The South Dock itself now serves as
marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...
, part of the Swansea Marina complex providing berths for privately owned leisure boats. Sailing and sea angling schools are based in the area. In addition to the Quay Parade road bridge just to the north, two pedestrian bridges link this area to the main Swansea docks area – the Sail bridge and the lock bridge. The Sail bridge, as its name suggests, is designed to look like a sail. The lock bridge is a steel structure built over the Tawe barrage. The western section of the lock bridge is a swing bridge over the lock which allows vessels to pass through the Tawe barrage. The water areas are not fully protected by railings. Local residents have often expressed concerns over the safety of the lack of railings and indeed, over the years, the marina has seen a number of people drown after falling into the waters by accident.


Amenities

The headquarters of the local ''
South Wales Evening Post The ''South Wales Evening Post'' is a tabloid daily newspaper distributed in the South West region of Wales. The paper has three daily editions – Swansea; Neath and Port Talbot; and Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ...
'' newspaper is here. Beside the Evening Post building is the Associated British Ports building, now used as a five-star hotel. Just west of the marina is a four-star Marriott hotel. A waterside walkway to the north-east of the marina is home to a few cafes, pubs and arcades. On the far western end of the Maritime Quarter is the Civic Centre which houses government offices of the City and County of Swansea Council. Within the area are: * National Waterfront Museum * Mission Gallery * Dylan Thomas Centre * Dylan Thomas Theatre * Swansea Museum * Swansea Leisure Centre * Marina Towers Observatory * The Environment Centre *
The Tower, Meridian Quay The Tower, Meridian Quay is a residential tower in Swansea, Wales. It is the tallest building in Wales. Standing at 107 m (351 ft), Meridian Quay is the only skyscraper in Wales (buildings over 100 m tall) and one of several high-rises in Swans ...
The square surrounded by the National Waterfront Museum, the old Pump House and shopping area contains a statue of
Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer, whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Un ...
.


Nearby places

* Swansea beach * Swansea City Centre * Sandfields * Swansea docks * SA1 Swansea Waterfront


Gallery

File:Captain Cat.jpg, Statue of fictional Captain Cat File:Dylan Swansea.jpg, Statue of Dylan Thomas near the National Waterfront Museum File:Swansea skyline.jpg, Meridian Quay under construction in 2008


See also

* List of places in Swansea * List of public art in Swansea * Lower Swansea valley


References

{{coord, 51.615, N, 3.940, W, type:city(5000)_region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SS658925), display=title Districts of Swansea Redeveloped ports and waterfronts in Wales Swansea Bay