You now get an idea of the finished appearance of the part of the building pointing out to sea. The fears I expressed in my blog (link below) seem warranted - the featureless expanse of zinc cladding makes it reminiscent - sadly - of a giant skip (somebody predicted this prior to construction).
The image above is from 'The High Sheriff of Clwyd' - I hope to take some of my own shortly, for an update to my blog.
I think it's a shame. Clearly there are some good intentions at work, as parts of the design seem well thought-out. But, I as pointed out in my original post, there's always a risk that a large featureless "slab" will look ugly. Now that the zinc cladding is in place, I think we can see this. The contrast with the actual winning design (shown at my blog) couldn't be more striking. Remember: public approval was for the winning design - NOT for the substantially amended design that's been built.
I discussed the issue with David Jones (Clwyd West MP, and now Welsh Secretary) after my blog was published last year. He'd contacted me, and seemed to share my concerns (which he later raised with councillors). But I think that, by then, it was too late in the process, as the building already had planning approval.
If anyone knows of any plans to improve the appearance of the sea-facing zinc "wedge" (eg cosmetic/decorative effects), please let me know.
My blog article:
http://colwynbay.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/waterfront-project/