Wales’s Chartist Tower in Newport

West Newport, Wales, is home to the 53.3-meter-tall Chartist Tower, a high-rise structure. Constructed in 1966, it stands as the city’s highest structure. The Mercure Newport Hotel, by Accor, now occupies it.

Context

The building is currently undergoing a £12 million renovation after Cardiff-based developers Garrison Barclay Estates (GBE) paid £6.5 million in 2017 to purchase a 250-year lease. The Welsh Government has contributed up to £2 million in loans to it.

Upper Dock Street is where you can find the building. The building is reachable from both sides: in front via the recently constructed Friars Walk shopping area, and in back via Commercial Street, the city’s oldest retail district.

After renovations, the building should reopen by the summer of 2019.

Etymology

The structure honours those who took part in the Newport Rising in 1839, a pivotal event in the Chartist political movement. One notable turning point in the fight for universal suffrage was the Newport rebellion.

According to developer GBE, the structure will continue to honour the events of 1839, with elements of the redevelopment mentioning the movement and its importance to the city.

Reconstruction

Developers GBE applied in September 2018 for a new use that includes “part hotel, ancillary facilities (gym, conference space, storage space, offices & restaurant), and a ground floor coffee shop.”

The request additionally calls for “office floor space, a restaurant, and external alterations to the facade of Chartist Tower and to the retail units fronting Upper Dock Street, Austin Friars (former Units 1-7 & 12-13), and Commercial Street (the former BHS).”

Approval of the planning authority was granted on February 7, 2019.

According to media sources, the Mercure hotel chain will lease the upper floor space, and three to four additional chain names, including Celtic Manor, are reportedly in talks. Depending on the developer, the land can accommodate 120 to 160 bedrooms. There are roughly 18,000 square feet of ground floor retail space and 30,000 square feet of office space.

The rehabilitation will be handled by Powell Dobson Architects, with design consulting from Bristol-based Hydrock. Cardiff’s interior design and architecture firm We chose the IAD Company as the project’s interior designers.

The Deputy Ministers for Housing and Local Government, as well as Culture, Tourism, and Sport, reaffirmed their commitment to the project when it was announced in April 2019 that the Welsh Government had granted up to £2 million in loans through the Visit Wales and Targeted Regeneration Investment programmes.