KINGSWAY: Roof off, sound still on. The Bunkhouse’s leaking roofs are fixed and the solar panels are up
Three leaking flat roofs at The Bunkhouse have been repaired and solar panels fitted, and the venue says the gigs never stopped while the work went on.
During the work, banners on the scaffolding over the Kingsway frontage read “Roof off, sound still on” and “Still open. Still loud”.
Roofs designed to hold back rainwater and give wildlife a home, known as biodiverse green roofs, have gone on too, with battery storage planned, according to Music Venue Trust.
The venue has been community-owned since August 2024, when Music Venue Properties bought the building after raising money through a public share offer. A plaque from the new owners and Swansea Council, dated 30 August 2024, marks the move.
One of the flat roofs at The Bunkhouse before the work, mossy and holding water. (Image: Bridgman & Bridgman)Jordan McGuire: ‘We’ve never stopped doing what The Bunkhouse exists to do’
Jordan McGuire, who runs The Bunkhouse, said: “The last couple of years have been incredibly difficult. We’ve dealt with some horrendous storms, ongoing water ingress, major building works, rising operating costs and the constant financial pressures that come with running an independent venue.
“The roof in particular has been a massive undertaking. What started as an already serious problem became something much bigger and getting to where we are now has taken an awful lot of work.
“It’s been a genuine collaboration between ourselves and MVP, working closely with Swansea Council, MVT, Welsh Government and others to get the investment and support needed.
“We’ve now got major roof improvements, a new solar installation and a building that’s being given the attention it desperately needed for years.
“What I’m particularly proud of is that throughout all of this, we’ve never stopped doing what The Bunkhouse exists to do. We’ve continued building a music community in Swansea that we’re incredibly proud of.”
The new roof: rows of solar panels on a bed of crushed shells that forms the green roof. (Image: Bridgman & Bridgman)Who paid for the Kingsway venue’s new roofs and solar panels
Swansea Council says it helped secure Welsh Government support for the venue through programmes including Transforming Towns and Green Infrastructure. Neither the council nor Music Venue Trust has said how much the work cost.
The Bunkhouse has also had help from Music Venue Trust’s Off The Grid programme. “Through Off The Grid, Music Venue Trust is focused on practical interventions that can reduce energy costs and make venues more sustainable and resilient for the long term,” said the charity’s chief executive, Mark Davyd.
Cllr Elliott King, the council’s cabinet member for culture, human rights and equalities, said: “Grassroots music venues play an important role in Swansea’s cultural life, helping local artists develop their talents while attracting visitors into the city centre.”
Fran Rolfe, a green infrastructure specialist at Natural Resources Wales, said: “The improvements at The Bunkhouse, including the biodiverse green roofs, will help manage the effects of heavier rainfall, support urban wildlife and make better use of renewable energy.”
Matthew Otridge, chief operating officer of Music Venue Properties, said: “Community ownership has given us the opportunity to secure The Bunkhouse for the long term, and the support we’re now receiving from Swansea Council, Welsh Government and Music Venue Trust is helping us invest in the building and make it more sustainable and resilient.”
The plaque marking the move into community ownership on 30 August 2024. (Image: stay.focused.photography / Lloyd Stranaghan)Music Venue Properties: how a public share offer put The Bunkhouse in community hands
Music Venue Trust set up Music Venue Properties to buy grassroots music venues, keep them as cultural sites and take them out of commercial ownership, the charity says. It is owned by its members, the people who buy shares in it, and is run for the benefit of the community rather than for profit, which makes it what is known as a community benefit society.
Its first share offer, launched in 2022, raised more than £2.8m from more than 1,300 individual investors, the society says. Along with other funding, that bought five venues: The Bunkhouse, Le Pub in Newport, The Snug in Atherton, The Ferret in Preston and The Booking Hall in Dover.
A second share offer opened in May 2025 and has raised more than £1.5m so far, it says, helping take the number of venues it owns to ten. In all, the society says it has raised around £7m through crowdfunding and other fundraising, with more than 2,500 investors backing its Own Our Venues campaign and share offers.
King Goon on stage at The Bunkhouse. (Image: stay.focused.photography / Lloyd Stranaghan)In December 2024 The Bunkhouse was one of 11 music businesses across Wales to share £400,000 from Creative Wales’ Music Revenue Fund, for a scheme training 16 to 25-year-olds in live music skills. Last month the council’s own culture strategy warned that the city’s grassroots venues are “particularly exposed” to rising costs, changing habits and shrinking national support.
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