| Red Dragon Centre | |
| Former Names: | Atlantic Wharf Leisure Village (1997–2000) |
| Building Type: | Entertainment, leisure complex |
| Mapframe: | no |
| Owner: | Cardiff Council (2020) |
| Location: | Atlantic Wharf, Cardiff Bay |
| Coordinates: | 51.4667°N -3.1641°W |
| Architecture Firm: | Holder Mathias |
The Red Dragon Centre is an indoor entertainment complex in southern Cardiff, the capital of Wales. It was originally known as the Atlantic Wharf Leisure Village when it opened in August 1997. The complex features restaurants, cafés, a Hollywood Bowl bowling alley with arcade amusements, an Odeon multiplex cinema, a casino, gym and an on-site car park.
It is located in the Cardiff Bay area, opposite the Wales Millennium Centre. This is close to the A4232 and near Cardiff Bay railway station. It is directly served by Cardiff Bus routes 6 (Baycar) and 8 (via Grangetown, Central Station) to the city centre.
The centre opened in 1997 as the Atlantic Wharf Leisure Village. The centre was renamed in 2000 as Red Dragon Centre (named after the commercial radio station for Cardiff and Newport, Red Dragon FM) Red Dragon FM has since been rebranded as Capital South Wales. The station is based in the centre, alongside Heart South Wales.
The multiplex cinema opened in October 1997 and was originally managed by United Cinemas International (UCI). However, in 2004 Odeon and UCI were bought by private equity firm, Terra Firma, and the two companies were merged under the Odeon name.[1]
In 2020, the British Airways Pension Fund sold the Red Dragon Centre to Cardiff Council for a reported £60m.[2]
In November 2018, it was reported that a 15,000-seat indoor arena would be built on the site.[3] The Atlantic Wharf site was chosen over six other potential sites, including Callaghan Square near Cardiff Central railway station, the 5,000-seat Cardiff International Arena (CIA), with an arena suggested as part of a £150m redevelopment of Cardiff Arms Park.[4] Currently the city lacks a large multi-purpose indoor venue suitable for hosting a number of major sporting and music events, such as Adele concerts, the BBC Sports Personality of the Year and the Gymnastics World Championships, with a capacity to bridge the significant gap between that of the CIA and the Millennium Stadium.[5]
The current Red Dragon Centre could be demolished and replaced by a new leisure complex, or receive a partial redevelopment on the existing site. If demolished, tenants would migrate over to the new property while the remaining parts of the project are built. A planning application was expected to be submitted in July 2019.[3] On 17 December 2019, it was announced that Cardiff Council's cabinet had been granted permission for the local authority to purchase the Red Dragon Centre from the British Airways Pension Fund (BAPF) for an undisclosed sum. An element of the purchase price will only be payable to the pension fund when a planning application is submitted for the new arena project on any part of the multi-acre Atlantic Wharf site (the combined County Hall on Schooner Way and Red Dragon Centre on Hemingway Road) within a 10 year period.[6] The development area also covers parts of Lloyd George Avenue and Silurian Park.[7]
The work is expected to be undertaken in four phases over multiple years: the first being the construction of the arena, theatre, a replacement hotel and multi-storey car park followed by the relocation of the centre's tenants into a new complex. The third phase of the masterplan would include a new office space delivered along with an additional hotel and finally new homes and apartments, with potential for more commercial space; the latter neighbourhood phase is dependant on proposed plans being approved to replace the ageing County Hall with a new smaller purpose-built building.[8] [9]
The council aimed to appoint a development partner and operator for the new arena by April 2020 and for a detailed planning application to be submitted by the selected developer before September 2020.[10] Construction work was projected to begin in May 2021 so the arena could open in June 2023. The new arena was expected to be based on the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam.[2]
Live Nation UK, the operator and leaseholder of the city centre's Motorpoint Arena, has approached the council with a view to operating the new venue if it is built.[11] On 27 November 2020, Live Nation and builders Robertson Group were announced as the winning bidders to operate and construct the venue. Entertainment investors Oak View Group are also part of the consortium.[12] Live Nation subsequently agreed to make a £100m financial contribution towards the project to cover increased costs and would commit to a future long-term lease of the venue.
In October 2023, it was revealed that the arena's dimensions and exterior design had been significantly revised by Populous as part of wider alterations to the project due to rising material costs; the seating bowl capacity was reduced from 17,000 (that was initially approved by the council in March 2022[13]) to a more flexible 15,358, with the opening date pushed back until 2026.[14] [15] Following the redesign to achieve 'greater cost certainty', the arena is now projected to cost £250 million; due to inflation the original design had increased by one million to £280 million. The price includes the rebuild and relocation of the hotel next to the centre. A planning application for the original design by HOK, inspired by the waterfront, docks and the city’s historical industries, had been submitted in January 2022, and was granted full planning permission by Cardiff Council in February 2023. It was hoped that it would achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating. The new compact design features a smaller, more rectangular shape with a 'swoop' above the main facade, two illuminated arches on each side and increased glazing, with a lighter bronze colour palette and light gold soffits designed to complement key surrounding buildings and was inspired by the Welsh mountains.[16] The following month it was reported that enabling works were now expected to begin in January 2024, in preparation for construction work to start in June that year.[17] An update in August 2024 reported that the work was to start sometime in 2025 with the arena expected to open in the second half of 2027.[18] The arena is projected to deliver between 130 and 150 events per annum and an additional 1.5 million visitors to Cardiff Bay each year.[19]
Further plans, that could form part of a £500m regeneration scheme, include waterfront apartments, bars and restaurants, a cinema complex and a hotel.[20] To be built alongside the arena is a proposed new stand-alone 550-seater "immersive" arts theatre that would include an exhibition space on the ground floor and facilities for production, rehearsal and training. The new theatre, that forms the third phase of development of the Wales Millennium Centre, will be opposite the existing main building of the WMC (phase 1 and 2 opened in 2004 and 2009 respectively) and located in the car park of the Atlantic Wharf and part of the parking area of Cardiff Council’s County Hall.[21] [22] A new 900-space multi-storey car park (MSCP) will also be built on the existing surface car parking and stacked into a much smaller area enabling the site to be regenerated. The new car park is part of a commitment from the council in support of the new indoor arena and is required to meet the terms of the leases of tenants of the Red Dragon Centre;[23] the council confirmed it was seeking permission to enter a build contract with Goldbeck Construction for the theatre and multi-storey car park, the latter of which could be built by the end of next year. Cardiff Council originally intended for the MSCP to have a larger capacity with 1,300 spaces,[24] but in January 2024 instead opted to purchase the existing Q-Park in Pierhead Street.[25]
Current tenants include: