Capital Tower, originally known as Pearl Assurance House, is a

high-rise building 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 jurisdictio ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. Standing at to roof height, Capital Tower is slightly taller than

Stadium House Stadium house is a genre of dance music which was most successful in the early 1990s. Acts such as the KLF and Utah Saints combined house music with other elements more typical in rock music, such as bombastic live shows and even guitarists, to ...

, which stands at to roof height (though inclusion of the antenna gives Stadium House a pinnacle height of ).

History

The

foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

s were built on the ruins of a 12th-century

friary A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

, much of which had still stood until 1955. These were completely cleared for the tower to be constructed, although it is probable that under modern planning laws this would not have been allowed. Entrance to Capital Tower 18 March 2020

Construction was started in 1967 and completed on schedule at a cost of £1.5 million, with the building being officially opened on 7 April 1970 by

Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan This is a list of people who served as Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan. After 1729, all Lords Lieutenant were also Custos Rotulorum of Glamorgan. The post was abolished on 31 March 1974. Lord Lieutenants of Glamorgan to 1974 *Henry Herbert, 2nd Ear ...

, Sir

Cennydd Traherne Sir Cennydd George Traherne (14 December 1910 – 26 January 1995) was a notable Welsh landowner. Sir Cennydd was born at Coedarhydyglyn near Cardiff, and was educated at Wellington College and Brasenose College, Oxford. He owned Dyffryn Hous ...

. It was originally known as Pearl Assurance House, after the

Pearl Assurance Phoenix Group Holdings plc (formerly Pearl Group plc) is a provider of insurance services based in London, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History The company was founded in 1857 a ...

company. For a long period it was the tallest building in Wales, until it was beaten by Swansea's

The Tower, Meridian Quay The Tower, Meridian Quay is a residential tower in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. 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 hi ...

completed in 2009. The building provides of floor space, Originally, a

job centre An employment agency is an organization which matches employers to employees. In developed countries, there are multiple private businesses which act as employment agencies and a publicly-funded employment agency. Public employment agencies One ...

bookshop Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librar ...

and galleries were built on the lower floors, but in 1998 they were replaced by a new set of developments including cafe-bars, and the

multi-storey car park A multistorey car park (British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a build ...

s were re-clad. At this time the building received its current name, Capital Tower. On 25 November 2002, the tower was sold for £17.4 million by Aberdeen Property Investors to the Raven Group. In August 2012,

DTZ Debenham Thouard Zadelhoff, known as DTZ, was a European joint venture originated from UK, France and the Netherlands, operating as a commercial real estate services firm. On September 1, 2015, Cushman & Wakefield and DTZ merged. In December 20 ...

secured the £12.35 million sale of Capital Tower and Friary House to the

Topland Group Topland Group is one of the world's largest privately owned property and investment groups. Topland is headed by the billionaire brothers Eddie and Sol Zakay. Topland has "become a major player in the regional UK hotel market, having spent £200m ...

. In 2018 the building was for sale at an asking price of £23.4 million. The building currently houses offices for

The Law Society The Law Society of England and Wales (officially The Law Society) is the professional association that represents solicitors for the jurisdiction of England and Wales. It provides services and support to practising and training solicitors, as ...

, ranstad, AA, DevOpsGroup,

Allianz Allianz ( , ) is a German multinational financial services company headquartered in Munich, Germany. Its core businesses are insurance and asset management. The company is one of the world's largest insurers and financial services groups. The ...

, Yard,

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

and Dolmans.

References

External links

Capital Tower - official website
* {{Landmarks and Visitor Attractions in Cardiff Landmarks in Cardiff Office buildings in Cardiff Towers in Wales Skyscrapers in Wales Skyscraper office buildings in the United Kingdom Office buildings completed in 1970

History

See also

References

External links