Swansea’s iconic Palace Theatre building is set to reopen its doors in November following an extensive restoration project.
The 136-year-old landmark is being brought back to life thanks to funding from Swansea Council and £4.9 million from the Welsh Government.
The project, led by the council and assisted by R&M Williams and GWP Architecture, is part of the council-driven £1 billion city regeneration plan, aiming to breathe new life into the High Street area and create a hub for local businesses.
The building will be operated by coworking network and innovation hub Tramshed Tech. This opening marks Tramshed Tech’s expansion into Swansea, adding to their existing locations in Cardiff, Newport, and Barry, where they offer a range of facilities including coworking, flexible office space, meeting rooms, event space, and podcast studios.
As part of this expansion, Tramshed Tech will be introducing their coffee shop brand ‘Da’ – meaning ‘good’ in Welsh – in the new Swansea Palace development. This coffee shop will be open to the public, offering visitors locally sourced food, freshly brewed Coaltown coffee and a welcoming environment to meet friends and colleagues.
Beyond physical spaces, Tramshed Tech is known for its award-winning business growth programmes, tailored to support the growth of tech, digital, and creative businesses throughout Wales and beyond.
Louise Harris, CEO at Tramshed Tech, said:
“As a proud Welsh company, we are honoured to be part of the Palace Theatre’s next chapter. This historic landmark is treasured by the local community and has been a landmark in Swansea for over a century. We’ve worked closely with local partners to ensure that the building’s history is respected, and its legacy preserved while adapting it for the future.
“Our vision is to create a space where Swansea’s rich heritage meets its bright future – a place where local businesses can collaborate, forge partnerships and facilitate game-changing innovation.”
The landmark will provide cutting-edge workspaces that pay homage to some of the building’s most treasured features with its decorative open iron balcony, original red Ebbw Vale brick, and refurbished floor tiles, designed to blend its rich history with modern entrepreneurial spirit.
The Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government, Jayne Bryant, said:
“It’s wonderful to see how our Transforming Towns programme is supporting the renovation works to bring this listed building in the heart of the city centre back into active use.
“The redevelopment of the iconic and prominent Palace Theatre building serves as a crucial catalyst to help regenerate Swansea’s High Street and I can’t wait to see how this project will benefit both businesses and the local community.”
The restored Palace Theatre building will feature six floors of versatile workspace including coworking, meeting rooms, office space and podcast studios. The historic theatre stage is being preserved as an event space and collaborative coworking area whilst the ground-floor will become ‘Da’, Tramshed Tech’s independent coffee shop.
Council leader Rob Stewart said:
“We’re delighted that Tramshed Tech has announced an opening date at the Palace – and to have them on board to run this beautiful building that we’re saving for future generations.
“Our work – and Tramshed Tech’s expertise – will breathe new life into the Palace; I’m looking forward to it reopening as a base for local people running businesses there.
“It’ll be a catalyst to help regenerate the city centre and its High Street area which has seen tens of millions of pounds of investment in recent years, bringing new opportunities, homes and improved commercial premises across the city centre. I thank all those who have worked on the fantastic Palace project.
“The Palace is one of many exciting city centre developments on which there’ll be great progress this year, including work towards a greener, more welcoming Castle Square Gardens and advances on our Y Storfa public services hub.”
Founded in 2016, Tramshed Tech’s mission is to create connected workspaces for tech, digital, and creative business owners across Wales.
To celebrate the reopening, Tramshed Tech have a series of events planned:
Pre-Launch Events
Grand Opening
November Highlights
Exploring the transformative potential of AI in the business landscape
All events and link to book can be found here: www.tramshedtech.co.uk/events
