Heritage of Wales

Images of Contemporary Wales

Wales is a dynamic and ever-changing principality, where new industries, new ways of living and new ways of building are growing to dominate the skyline. This gallery of images presents some of the highlights of contemporary Wales. Some buildings, like the Aberystwyth Arts Centre and the Inmos factory in Newport, were built decades ago to innovative designs. Others, like the Malator earth house in Pembrokeshire and the Senedd Assembly Building in Cardiff Bay, have incorporated architectural refinements impossible twenty years ago. Elsewhere in Wales contemporary changes like the construction of a massive east-west natural gas pipeline and the growth of windfarms, both on our hills and offshore, show Wales and Britain moving to address challenges in energy supply at a time when post-war nuclear power stations like Wylfa on Anglesey are coming to the end of their working lives.

Reshaping our towns and cities

  • The sheer concrete façade of Aberystwyth Arts Centre with the university bell tower alongside.
  • The striking suspension bridge and power station at Connah’s Quay in north-east Wales.
  • New hotels, waterfront flats and retail developments at Cardiff Bay, south Wales.

The sheer concrete façade of Aberystwyth Arts Centre with the university bell tower alongside.

The striking suspension bridge and power station at Connah’s Quay in north-east Wales.

New hotels, waterfront flats and retail developments at Cardiff Bay, south Wales.

  • Cardiff Bay Barrage, south Wales, with Penarth Marina beyond.
  • The innovative architecture of the Senedd Building in Cardiff Bay overshadows the nineteenth-century brick Pierhead Building.
  • The new National Waterfront Museum, within the redeveloped Swansea docklands.

Cardiff Bay Barrage, south Wales, with Penarth Marina beyond.

The innovative architecture of the Senedd Building in Cardiff Bay overshadows the nineteenth-century brick Pierhead Building.

The new National Waterfront Museum, within the redeveloped Swansea docklands.

  • The medieval ruins of Newport Castle appear forgotten between railway and road bridges, post-war roundabouts and recent riverside sculptures.
  • Built in 1998 as a weekend retreat by Future Systems architects, Malator House sits half-buried in the ground, with a glass wall facing over the expanse of Druidston Haven and St Brides Bay, Pembrokeshire.
  • Concentric housing development with a central green at Glebelands, Hubberston, Milford Haven.

The medieval ruins of Newport Castle appear forgotten between railway and road bridges, post-war roundabouts and recent riverside sculptures.

Built in 1998 as a weekend retreat by Future Systems architects, Malator House sits half-buried in the ground, with a glass wall facing over the expanse of Druidston Haven and St Brides Bay, Pembrokeshire.

Concentric housing development with a central green at Glebelands, Hubberston, Milford Haven.

Contemporary Industries

  • Wylfa nuclear power station on the northernmost coast of Anglesey.
  • Sunlight reflects off the striking metal roofs of the Holyhead Harbour ferry terminal in north Wales.
  • Aerial view of a massive construction depot built in 2006-7 to serve the route of the natural gas pipeline (background), at Llyswen in Powys.

Wylfa nuclear power station on the northernmost coast of Anglesey.

Sunlight reflects off the striking metal roofs of the Holyhead Harbour ferry terminal in north Wales.

Aerial view of a massive construction depot built in 2006-7 to serve the route of the natural gas pipeline (background), at Llyswen in Powys.

  • The true scale of this graceful wind turbine at Trefenter in mid-Wales can be judged by the tractor passing underneath.
  • Built in the early 1980s as a microchip factory, this industrial building was years ahead of its time and still appears fresh and dramatic in this aerial view.
  • An aerial view is one of the few ways to appreciate the layout and extents of large-scale modern windfarms.

The true scale of this graceful wind turbine at Trefenter in mid-Wales can be judged by the tractor passing underneath.

Built in the early 1980s as a microchip factory, this industrial building was years ahead of its time and still appears fresh and dramatic in this aerial view.

An aerial view is one of the few ways to appreciate the layout and extents of large-scale modern windfarms.