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Today it stands as the imposing heart of Welsh cultural life, an iconic structure which represents the big ambitions it has.

But, hard though it might be to picture it, just 15 years ago the space where the Wales Millennium Centre (WMC) now stands lay empty.

Work began on the centre 15 year ago this month, back in February 2002, and at its opening two and a half years later it instantly became another landmark in the transformation of Cardiff Bay .

Since 2004 the WMC has welcomed 3.4m audience members as well as a whopping 13.5m people through its doors. And it provides an estimated economic boost to the Bay of £75m a year.

(Image: Wales Millennium Centre)

But development of the site for the arts was close to never coming to fruition.

Back in the mid-1990s Dame Zaha Hadid – the late architect behind the London 2012 aquatics centre – won a competition to design an opera house for the site .

But the government’s Millennium Commission decided to pull the plug on the idea, instead throwing its weight – and cash – behind plans to replace the National Stadium with what would become the Millennium Stadium.

Plans were amended and eventually the proposals for what is today the Wales Millennium Centre emerged.

(Image: Wales Millennium Centre)

Designed to be more than simply an opera house, it is the home of organisations such as the BBC and the Welsh National Opera – and even houses a youth hostel alongside the shops and cafes.

The state-of-the-art facility is still regarded as one of the finest in the UK and has been described by Lord Lloyd-Webber as the “best theatre built in the world in the last 50 years”.

(Image: Wales Millennium Centre)

It was helped by being purpose-built on an open site. Eight articulated trucks can fit in its holding bays at any one time, for example, meaning there is no loss of downtime between shows when sets have to be removed and new ones installed.

The centre’s managing director Mathew Milsom said: “I know what that part of the city was like before the regeneration but you can’t imagine Cardiff Bay without it now.

(Image: Wales Millennium Centre)

“It’s a massive success story – it’s a world-class building which has put Wales on the map internationally. We are a venue of choice for West End producers, which is fantastic.”

Wicked is coming back to the venue next year:

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But he added: “We are recognised as a world-class theatre but I don’t think we are recognised as a national asset yet. But we are only 12 years old and part of our aim is to address that and to make culture relevant to everyone in Wales.

(Image: Chris Colclough)

“What we have to do is to create a pan-Wales initiative which can bring the whole of Wales together.”

He added: “Our task has always been to make sure the quality and scale of the shows can do the theatre justice.”

(Image: Chris Colclough) (Image: Simon Ridgway) (Image: Wales Millennium Centre)