Work starts on Yr Egin development in Carmarthen

Canolfan S4C Yr Egin is an ambitious and transformational development that will be home to S4C’s main headquarters as well as a number of companies and organisations working with the creative and digital industries.

Enabling works started earlier this month with the centre on track to open in late spring 2018.

Canolfan S4C Yr Egin is a development that will transform and shape the creative and digital industries in South West Wales and beyond. It will also be a centre that will be at the heart of the community providing opportunities for local people to enjoy the building and its resources – a cafe, auditorium and performance stages.

“With work starting on the site of Yr Egin, we can now look forward to realising our exciting and bold vision to develop a creative and digital cluster that will greatly benefit the county, the region and the creative industries across Wales,” says Gwilym Dyfri Jones, Associate Pro Vice Chancellor at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David.

“Bringing together a range of creative, digital and cultural practitioners within the same building – with S4C at its core as the main anchor tenant – will create opportunities to co-locate a range of skills, encouraging innovation and enabling job creation.  This is a very important milestone for the project and we look forward to progressing with the construction allowing the centre to open in 2018,” continues Gwilym Dyfri Jones.

“The commencement of groundworks on the Canolfan S4C Yr Egin site brings our re-location that much closer,” adds Garffild Lloyd Lewis, S4C’s Director of Relocation.

“Our planning for relocation is well advanced and we look forward to being part of this exciting development in Carmarthen. This iconic building will be our home in just over a year, we look forward to working closely with University of Wales Trinity Saint David’s staff between now and then.”

The design of the 3,700 square metre building has already received the support of the Design Commission for Wales with the internal layout of the building focused around a public foyer and atrium that overarches the three floors.  There will be a specific focus on the broadcasting and performance on the ground floor, with a range of offices for S4C and other partners on the other two floors. The University will also create new enterprise incubation units, offering access to opportunities, facilities, events and industry networks.

Canolfan S4C Yr Egin’s design team is a partnership between the Rural Office for Architecture (ROA), a company based in Newcastle Emlyn, and BDP (Building Design Partnership), an international company of architects, engineers and designers, with local architect, Niall Maxwell leading on the project.

The University of Wales Trinity Saint David will work with regional construction company Kier Group Plc as the main contractor for Canolfan S4C yr Egin.

Kier will be responsible for managing the detailed and technical design of the building as well as the construction process for the new centre.

As part of the competitive procurement process, Kier made a number of commitments to work with the University and S4C to ensure that the project generates wider economic benefits in the region during the construction phase of the development.

Such commitments include a pledge to support the economy through the use of local suppliers and sub-contractors, where feasible, and the company has already undertaken a ‘meet the buyer’ event to advertise opportunities.  This support also includes the commitment to the use of British steel in the design of the building frame  In addition, the company will providing a range of job opportunities, apprenticeships and work placements linked to the construction work.  Such opportunities will be provided for the University’s students across its campuses in Carmarthen, Lampeter and Swansea and particularly students of the Faculty of Architecture, Computing and Engineering who will gain first hand-experience of a live construction project.  In addition, the company is keen to support community and civic projects linked to the development.

Further Information
For further information, please contact Sian-Elin Davies by emailing sian-elin.davies@uwtsd.ac.uk / 01267 676908 / 07449 998476