Featured News

ATG reveals first look at new Swansea Arena

A new fly-through video has been released of the under-construction Swansea Arena, a new 3,500-capacity venue scheduled to open in the Welsh city later this year.

The new arena will form part of Swansea Council’s £135m (€158m/$187m) Copr Bay phase one district. The venue will be operated by Ambassador Theatre Group and will host music, comedy, esports and conference events.

The fly-through video features new artists’ impressions and highlights the design and architecture of the arena. The venue will also feature a divisible auditorium to create separate spaces, with the upper level transforming into a conference space to complement banqueting facilities.

Other features of the arena, which is set to attract an estimated 230,000 visitors per year, will include a 175-capacity VIP lounge, nine food and drink outlets and an LED façade. Swansea Council said that construction of phase one of the Copr Bay district, which is being led by Buckingham Group Contracting Ltd, is on track for completion this autumn.

Councillor Robert Francis-Davies, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Investment and Tourism, said: “Excitement is already starting to build with more and more visible progress on site every day, but this stunning new digital fly-through will help further raise anticipation throughout Swansea and beyond. It shows how the arena – once complete and operational – will be a world-class facility that will give local people the opportunity to enjoy the very best entertainment, conferences and other events.

“Copr Bay phase one is also worth hundreds of jobs to local people, with the investment having sparked considerable private sector interest in our city. Schemes of this nature – in combination with many others – will transform Swansea into one of the UK’s best cities to live, work, study and visit. They also mean Swansea’s economy is in a strong position to quickly recover from the economic impact of the pandemic.”

Swansea Arena will be fitted with technology that will enable the venue to host real-life and hybrid events, embracing the current trend for virtual attendance that will continue beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lisa Mart, general manager of the arena, added: “We are a multi-purpose entertainment venue, so although the majority of our bookings are going to be music acts, we are also going to be having comedy, premium musical theatre, and things like esports, gaming and even wrestling because the flexibility of our venue means we can play things in the round. Swansea Arena is limitless in terms of all the things it can offer.”

Work on the arena complex got underway in November 2019.

Image: Swansea Arena