Capital Tower located in Cardiff

Cardiff

Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...

, Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 was the tallest structure in Wales until 12th Sept 2008 when Meridian Quay in Swansea

Swansea

Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...

 was topped out. Standing at 80 metres (262 ft) to roof height, Capital Tower is slightly taller than Stadium House

Stadium House, Cardiff

Stadium House is the second tallest building in Cardiff, Wales, which stands next to the Millennium Stadium. The 255ft tall building is owned by BT Group, and recently underwent a £7.1 million refurbishment programme....

, which stands at 78 metres to roof height, though inclusion of the antenna gives Stadium House a pinnacle height of 120 metres.

Capital Tower was completed in 1967 and originally known as Pearl House. The 125000 sq ft (11,612.9 m²) tower was bought on 25 November 2002 for £17.4 million by Aberdeen Property Investors from the Raven Group. The tower houses several key clients including Admiral Insurance

Admiral Insurance

Admiral, part of the Admiral Group, is a car insurance specialist which launched in January 1993. Its head offices are in Capital Tower, Cardiff, Wales. It also has offices in Swansea and Newport and Halifax, Nova Scotia...

 and regional government bodies. A job centre, bookshop and galleries were built on the lower floors, but in 1998, they were replaced by a new set of developments including café-bars, and the car parks were re-clad. At this time the building received its current name - Capital Tower.

The Tower was built on the ruins of a 12th century friary. Much of the building still stood in 1955. It was cleared for the Capital Tower to be constructed. It is most probable that under modern planning restrictions this would not have been allowed.

There was a proposal for an even taller tower in Wales at Bay Pointe

Bay Pointe

Bay Pointe was a planned housing development site located in the western area of Cardiff Bay, Cardiff, Wales. The development was to be situated on the peninsula of Cardiff International Sports Village.-Original proposal:...

 in Cardiff Bay

Cardiff Bay

Cardiff Bay is the area created by the Cardiff Barrage in South Cardiff, the capital of Wales. The regeneration of Cardiff Bay is now widely regarded as one of the most successful regeneration projects in the United Kingdom. The Bay is supplied by two rivers to form a freshwater lake round the...

; however, in December 2008 the Western Mail reported that this was unlikely to ever be built. The Mayor of Cardiff said the way forward for Cardiff is upwards to give it a more major 'international-city feeling'.