Carmarthen

St David's Heritage Park

The 38-acre former St David’s Asylum on the edge of historic Carmarthen had been partially converted into a business park, with a specialist unit subsequently split off from the main site. The local authority, as owner, wished to dispose of the property and invited proposals from the market.

A desktop masterplanning exercise established the potential for a mixed-use development which retained the listed and heritage buildings and created a new community around the historic core of the site.

The proposal, known as Central Heritage Park, was designed to revitalise the site’s historic core while preserving its distinctive vernacular character and introducing new residential and commercial uses. The removal of modern buildings, extensions and car parks would release existing floorspace which could be transferred into new-build housing across four distinct development zones around the site.

The intention was for each zone to be developed by an individual housebuilder within the framework of the overall masterplan, with the development strategy and design principles retained under our control.

The masterplan envisaged more than 220 new-build houses, approximately 50 apartments and business space, together with the full restoration of the asylum church and the re-establishment of its historic parkland setting.

The proposals sought to combine the restoration and reuse of the surviving character buildings with the delivery of new housing, creating a development which retained the identity of the former asylum while providing a substantial new residential community.

Realising the masterplan presented a number of technical and environmental challenges. The site’s location away from the major Welsh urban centres created logistical considerations around the availability of local trades and the transportation of construction materials. The former medical use of the property also required comprehensive asbestos management and structural and fire-risk assessments across the diverse existing building stock.

The site contained protected species and the proposals incorporated appropriate ecological surveys and conservation measures to ensure that development could proceed while protecting the existing ecology.

The acquisition process ultimately developed into a highly competitive and complex bid involving extensive direct negotiation with the local authority and multiple rounds of offers for both 999-year leasehold and freehold interests.

The proposal was selected as preferred bidder, reflecting its alignment with the Council’s wider objectives for the site and the quality of the proposed masterplan. However, the transaction was ultimately awarded to another party on the basis of a higher cash offer.

Although the acquisition did not proceed, the project demonstrated the potential to transform a substantial and complex heritage site through a coordinated masterplan combining restoration, new housing, commercial space and landscape regeneration.