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CASTLE SQUARE: First foundations go in for Swansea’s new city centre gardens

The transformation of Swansea’s Castle Square has reached its next stage — with the first foundations of the new Castle Square Gardens now being built.

Diggers moved onto the square in the spring, and the site today is barely recognisable: the fountains, steps and paving of the old square have gone, with the ground dug out to new levels behind bright red hoardings.

The square has been dug out to new levels, watched over by the ruins of Swansea Castle. Image: Swansea Council

Swansea Council says preparation work — including diverting underground utilities and removing and storing materials for reuse — is complete, with main construction now underway and, the contractor says, running in line with the programme.

Public spaces contractor Knights Brown is delivering the scheme, with access maintained for pedestrians and surrounding businesses while it builds.

The council says the finished gardens will bring significantly more green space to the square, along with new seating, a water feature, improved lighting and areas for events — as shown in the design images released last autumn.

How the new Castle Square Gardens will look, seen from the castle. Image: Swansea Council / ACME

Council leader Rob Stewart said it was “great to see the transformation of this important site firmly underway”, adding the council was confident people would enjoy the finished space.

Knights Brown divisional director Tim Waller said the scheme “provides a fond nod to the location’s past as a traditional city centre garden space”.

Council leader Rob Stewart (centre) and joint deputy leader David Hopkins (right) with Knights Brown divisional director Tim Waller at the site. Image: Swansea Council

The design comes from architects ACME, with consultants Spider Projects also working on the scheme.

When we visited the site last month, diggers had just begun reshaping the square — and Mr Stewart said he would love to see a new big screen in place in time for next year’s Six Nations.

That nod to the past runs deep. The square stands on the site of the Ben Evans department store — one of the grandest shops in Wales until it was destroyed in the Three Nights’ Blitz of the Second World War.

The cleared Ben Evans site in 1949, before the Castle Gardens were laid out. Image: West Glamorgan Archives

The bomb site became the Castle Gardens, the formal lawns and flowerbeds remembered by generations of Swansea shoppers, before the 1990s remodelling swept them away for the hard-paved plaza of recent memory — its amphitheatre steps, fountains and Leaf Boat sculpture finally removed in January as the site was cleared.

The Castle Gardens in bloom in their post-war heyday. Image: West Glamorgan ArchivesCastle Square as it was last year, with the fountains and amphitheatre steps of the 1990s design. Image: Swansea Council

And it’s not just the square itself changing — almost every building around it is being reshaped too.

The former Castle Cinema building is being converted into flats and retail units by a housing association. On Castle Street, Turtle Bay closed its doors in April after ten years overlooking the square.

On Princess Way, Søstrene Grene drew queues along Castle Square when it opened last month in the former Zara unit at Castle Quays. Ten new flats are planned for the floors above.

A short walk away on Oxford Street, Y Storfa has opened in the former BHS and been named Wales’ Project of the Year. Next door, M&S closed after 69 years.

Even the building housing the square’s McDonald’s is in line for change, with Welsh Government millions backing plans for a major new flats development at the site.

The works form part of what the council describes as a £1bn regeneration programme across the city centre — and by the time the gardens open in summer 2027, the square they sit in will look out on an almost entirely changed city.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Work ramps up on the square’s green makeover — and a new big screen could show the Six Nations
Our last visit as diggers began reshaping the square.

New images reveal greener, more vibrant future for Castle Square
The designs for the transformed square.

Leaf Boat sculpture removed from Castle Square
The fountain and sculpture cleared as the redevelopment moved ahead.

#CastleSquare #CastleSquareGardens #CllrRobStewart #featured #KnightsBrown #SwanseaCouncil

CASTLE SQUARE: Work ramps up on the square’s green makeover — and a new big screen could show the Six Nations

Diggers are deep at work in the heart of Swansea as one of the city centre’s most prominent public spaces is torn up and rebuilt.

Heavy machinery has been excavating Castle Square, the open space beneath the ruins of Swansea Castle, where the old paving, steps and fountain are giving way to a greener redesign.

The work is the latest visible stage of a scheme the council first set in motion earlier this year, when an artist’s installation went up on the hoardings to mark the start of construction.

The square has been dug up as contractor Knights Brown reshapes the space. (Image: Swansea Bay News)The square has been dug up as contractor Knights Brown reshapes the space. (Image: Swansea Bay News)Diggers at work where the paving and steps of the old square once stood. (Image: Swansea Bay News)

Contractor Knights Brown is now on site, with the square fenced off behind “danger deep excavations” signs and the ground stripped back to bare earth.

The council is rebranding the space Castle Square Gardens, a nod to its history — before its 1990s redesign, the area was known as Castle Gardens.

When finished, the square is set to include new lawns, biodiverse planting, a water feature for interactive play, two pavilion buildings for food, drink or retail, and new seating, lighting and paving.

It will also have a giant TV screen above a bandstand-style space — and that screen has become a talking point.

How the revamped Castle Square Gardens is expected to look, complete with the new big screen. (Image: Swansea Council)

At a council scrutiny panel this week, councillor Dai Jenkins asked whether the new screen would be ready in time to show the 2027 Six Nations.

Council leader Rob Stewart said the timetable made that a close-run thing, but that it was the ambition.

“The current completion and handover is likely to be after the Six Nations, but again, I know Lee and the team are currently looking at how they can advance that schedule,” he told the panel.

“It would be great if the screen were operational and the public were able to use the new square in time for the Six Nations.”

He added: “If not, obviously it’ll be available at the next major sporting event, but [I’d] love to see it open for the Six Nations if at all possible.”

Castle Square in its previous form, before the major work to create the new Castle Square Gardens started. (Pic: Swansea Council)

A big screen is not new to Castle Square. The previous one was first put up for the 2012 London Olympics and stayed in place long afterwards, becoming a fixture for major sporting and civic occasions.

The two pavilion units, meanwhile, are already drawing interest. The council’s regeneration manager Lee Richards told the panel the authority could not yet name tenants, as the units had not been let.

But he said there was “significant interest”, adding that “a number of local vendors” could be “really good fits” for the spaces.

The square sits at the centre of the city’s wider regeneration, with new flats and commercial schemes taking shape around it — including ten apartments planned for a building overlooking the square.

The leaf-boat sculpture that long stood in the square has been removed and put into storage, with the council in talks over a new home for it — Cwmdonkin Park among the options.

The Leaf Boat sculpture in its original position in Castle Square, created by Swansea artist Amber Hiscott and installed in 1996.
(Image: Swansea Council)

For now, the diggers will keep working, with the greener Castle Square Gardens — screen and all — still to take shape.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Artist helps celebrate green future of Castle Square as revamp gets underway
A huge new artwork went up on the hoardings as work began on the transformation.

Ten new flats planned for building overlooking Castle Square
More city centre living as the push to bring people back into the heart of Swansea continues.

Swansea’s future mapped out in draft city centre plan
The wider blueprint for reshaping the city centre and waterfront.

#CastleSquare #CastleSquareGardens #KnightsBrown #regeneration #SixNations #SwanseaCityCentre #SwanseaCouncil