EditorSWANSEA: Kingsway office block on old Oceana nightclub site named most impressive commercial workplace in South of England and Wales
Generations of Swansea revellers knew 71/72 The Kingsway as Oceana — one of the city’s biggest nightclubs. Now the site has won two national awards as one of the most impressive new office buildings in the South of England and South Wales.
71/72 Kingsway — the striking glass and concrete building that replaced the former nightclub — took home both the Commercial Workplace award and the Innovation award at the British Council for Offices South of England & South Wales Awards, held in Bristol on Wednesday night.
It was the only building in the competition to win two categories — beating schemes in Penzance, Maidenhead, Bracknell and Bristol to claim the double. It is also the only Welsh winner in this year’s competition.
Judges said the building “stood out for its seamless integration of architectural quality, sustainability, and user-focused innovation” — and called it “an enabler for future regeneration of Swansea city centre, with multiple active frontages, new routes, and a bold architectural approach.”
Swansea Council built the development — partly funded by the Swansea Bay City Deal — with the ambition of turning The Kingsway into a proper business district. The numbers suggest it is working. Around 80% of the office space is already let, and the council estimates that once fully occupied, the building could create up to 600 jobs and contribute £32.6 million to the city’s economy every year.
The building is already filling up fast. Global workspace giant IWG — which runs Regus — signed for 20,000 sq ft earlier this year, joining TUI, Amazon-owned Veeqo, Optical Express, sk:n clinic and Futures First as tenants.
Harry Allen, chair of the judging panel and director at Savills, said what stood out about this year’s winners was their impact beyond the workplace itself.
“From revitalising town centres and supporting local economies to redefining the role of the modern office, each scheme demonstrates how far the sector has evolved,” he said. “Collectively, they reflect a growing emphasis on sustainability, wellbeing and creating workspaces with a strong sense of place.”
BCO chief executive Samantha McClary said the Swansea win was proof that reports of the death of the office had been greatly exaggerated.
“Vibrant, impactful, enablers, drivers of economic growth — this is exactly what our workspaces are,” she said. “The idea that the office is dead is most definitely fake news.”
Inside, the building is as striking as its exterior. A stepped timber forum runs the length of the ground floor, lit by dozens of circular pendant lights. A sculptural spiral staircase connects the upper floors. A rooftop terrace — where Swansea’s big wheel is visible on the skyline — sits above it all.
The ground floor reception and atrium of 71/72 Kingsway, showing the building’s exposed concrete and industrial design aesthetic. (Image: supplied) The stepped forum inside 71/72 Kingsway, one of the design features cited by BCO judges. (Image: supplied)71/72 Kingsway seen from street level, with The Kingsway visible below and the building’s distinctive upper floors and mesh façade above. (Image: Johan Dehlin / supplied)The rooftop terrace at 71/72 Kingsway, with the Swansea big wheel visible on the skyline. (Image: Johan Dehlin / supplied)
The award is the latest piece of good news for Swansea’s city centre regeneration. The former Debenhams building — long a symbol of high street decline — was sold earlier this month to Quadrant owners Centurion, with three major new tenants expected to be named soon.
71/72 Kingsway now goes forward to the BCO National Awards on 6 October 2026 at Grosvenor House in London — competing against regional winners from across the UK for the top national prizes.
The building sits at the heart of a Kingsway that looks very different to the one that hosted Oceana, Top Rank and a succession of entertainment venues across the decades — and the council’s bet that offices, not nightclubs, are the future of the street appears to be paying off.
Work is already under way on a further major office development at the former St David’s Shopping Centre site nearby, with Swansea’s transformation as a modern commercial centre gathering pace on multiple fronts simultaneously.
Related stories from Swansea Bay News
SWANSEA: Global workspace giant IWG takes huge 20,000 sq ft at booming Kingsway development
The latest big name to sign up at 71/72 Kingsway — and what it means for the city centre.
SWANSEA: Debenhams building sold to Quadrant owners as three major new tenants set to be named ‘within days’
More good news for Swansea city centre as the former Debenhams finds a new owner and new purpose.
All our 71/72 Kingsway coverage
From demolition of the old Oceana site to award-winning office block — the full story.
