Pictures from old council development documents show what might have been had it not been for the student housing development boom.
Over the last five years, planning permission for 8,000 student rooms has been granted in purpose built student accomidation.
Usually taking the form of enormous tower blocks, they are typically marketed as luxury accommodation for overseas students.
Supporters of the developments say they are an important tool for freeing up valuable housing stock in areas like Cathays.
However there are wide spread concerns that if the numbers of overseas students falls it could leave these huge blocks derelict as in many cases they are not suitable for long-term habitiation.
What could have been
If you have a look have the patience to look through old council planning documents you can see what had been proposed for these areas before developers changed their focus to student housing.
Over the course of the planning process amendments are made to the plans and the design of the building slowly morphs.
We have put together three examples how the buildings that will dominate Cardiff's skyline could have looked.
Bradley Court, Park Place
On the corner of Park Place, the old block used to be home to a law firm and there were plans for more offices
The plan was to turn this:
Into this office development
However the latest plans for a student housing development on the same spot suggest we will have this square, lumpy eyesore.
Zenith, Herbert Street
The huge Zenith building on Herbert Street is one of the city's latest student housing developments. However it was initially proposed as a mixed-use development of offices and flats - of much higher quality.
This slider shows the original plans compared to the current building we see today:
This was the plans for the original building when it was private residential.
It then changed to students and this was the idea:
And now we have this:
The West Wing - Cardiff Royal Infirmary
The former West Wing of Cardiff Royal Infirmary used to look like this:
But they wanted to turn it into this:
So they knocked the building down:
The current building is still under construction but you can still get a glimpse of what it will end up like:
And it looks as if the developers are already struggling to fill this development and have asked the council to let them rent the rooms to non students.
Cardiff council comment
Council planning decision makers do have their hand tied when it comes to applcations. If applications meet preset guidelines the council have to approve the application or risk an appeal.
A spokesman for the council said: "When asked about the wide scale construction of student flats in Cardiff, the market for student developments is not in itself a material planning consideration.
"It is not the role of the LPA to interfere with commercial markets, but rather to consider whether the proposal is considered acceptable in planning terms
"The design of any new building in Cardiff is given careful consideration having regard to the national planning policy and guidance. In addition to the detailed policies in the adopted local development plan, the council has approved additional guidance regarding residential design and tall buildings design."
