There are still no signs of progress on ambitious plans to transform one of Cardiff Bay’s most historic sites into a unique outdoor swimming and sauna destination.
The vision for the Mount Stuart Graving Docks was first revealed in December 2022, when Finnish company Nordic Urban proposed a bold waterfront attraction. The plans included heated and non-heated floating pools, a traditional sauna, changing facilities, and a restaurant and bar overlooking the water.
In April 2024, Nordic Urban insisted the project was still very much alive, telling the Local Democracy Reporting Service that contracts and design studies were ongoing. “This has taken us slightly longer than we anticipated,” a spokesperson said at the time, “but it has to be done before entering into the next phase of the project.”
Since then, however, there has been little visible progress. No planning application has yet been submitted to Cardiff Council, and the company did not respond to recent requests for an update.
If realised, the Cardiff Bay site would join Nordic Urban’s successful venture in Helsinki and proposed future projects in Stockholm, Oslo, New York, and Tallinn. Closer to home, Cardiff Council has already given approval in principle to lease land at the Bay for the development.
According to Nordic Urban, the attraction aims to “breathe life into the currently little-used historic site” with year-round leisure and wellness experiences. Early plans also outlined outdoor seating, indoor event spaces, wellness programming, and water sports access.
The Mount Stuart Graving Docks themselves are steeped in heritage. Once part of the Mount Stuart Shipbuilding Yard, they became a permanent water feature in 2001 following the creation of the Cardiff Bay Barrage.
If the project goes ahead, it would mark another transformative moment for Cardiff Bay’s evolving landscape, alongside major developments like the 15,000-capacity indoor arena currently under construction at Atlantic Wharf.
For now though, Cardiff’s floating sauna dream remains just that, a dream waiting to be realised.
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