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Cardiff Bay Visitor Centre (1991–2010)
Cardiff Bay Visitor Centre (known informally as "the Tube") was a piece of modern architecture designed by the architect Will Alsop for Cardiff Bay, Wales, in 1990. It was finally dismantled in 2010. A panel of architectural experts has said the building "single-handedly put Cardiff on the architectural map".[3] Design and constructionArchitect Will Alsop was already involved in the development of the Cardiff Bay Barrage when asked, by the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation (CBDC), to design a visitors' centre. The building was completed during the Summer of 1990,[4] located close to the Victorian Pierhead Building.[1] It cost somewhere between £350,000[4] and £500,000[5] and was originally expected to last for only two years, the duration of its first temporary planning consent.[1][5] The building was in the shape of a long flattened tube, glazed at each end. Alsop liked to compare its shape to a disposable cigarette lighter.[4] It was constructed using a series of oval steel ribs, clad with marine plywood and covered with external skin of nylon-pvc fabric.[4][6] It was one of the first significant projects completed by Neil Thomas's structural engineering consultancy, Atelier 1. Ripple-like slots were cut into the plywood, allowing dappled daylight into the interior.[1] It was shortlisted for the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Building of the Year award (forerunner of the Stirling Prize).[4] The visitor centre was built to house an exhibition about the new Cardiff Bay development.[4] In 1993 the building needed to be moved from its location east of the Pierhead Building. Rather than permanently dismantle it, the structure was put on the back of a 50m long Mammoet self-propelled transporter and moved to another part of the Bay.[4] At the same time a new entrance ramp was added on the north side and steel brackets fixed to the end ribs to allow the pvc-nylon sheath to be fully stressed along the building's length. It continued to house interactive exhibitions and a scale model of Cardiff.[7] Because of its distinctive shape, the visitor centre became known locally as 'The Tube'.[5][7] In 2009 it was listed ninth in the Top Ten free attractions in Wales.[8] Cardiff Bay Visitor Centre was listed by a panel of experts as one of the Top 50 Buildings of the 1990s, saying the building had "single-handedly put Cardiff on the architectural map".[3] Later events In 2006 the building's operators, Cardiff Initiative, ceased trading and The Tube closed for several weeks, reopening under the management of Cardiff Council.[7] The Tube was finally dismantled (and put into storage) in Autumn 2010 to make way for a new link road.[5] "I'm surprised it's lasted this long," said Alsop's practice partner John Lyall.[5] Awards
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