A SPECTACULAR glass gallery is taking shape at Newport's market. The 1,500 sq ft gallery is set to be the centrepiece of the refurbished market when work is completed this summer.

The £90,000 gallery floor will span the width of the Grade II listed Victorian building, and feature huge semicircular opa-que glass floors, as well as large balcony areas.

The space will be used as an exhibition and event area to go alongside the new 'enterprise hub' that is being created.

Senior project manager Simon Williams said: "Following extensive restoration of the market's domed roof we have now started work on the main gallery area.

"This is the most exciting part of the project for us, and it will be very rewarding for us to be able to enhance these original features with the new constructions."

The work is being carried out without disruption to market traders, and stalls will remain open throughout the entire duration of the project. Mr Williams said: "We're working within a live market environment, so as always, speed, efficiency and planning to cause minimal disruption are top of our agenda."

By the end of the three-year refurbishment project, including the latest scheme, Newport city council will have spent more than £3.3 million on the landmark building.

The latest phase of the ambitious project will create accommodation for 25 new companies, as well as a series of incubator units for start-up firms.

Ken Critchley, the council's cabinet member for resources, said he was delighted with how work was progressing.

He said: "The plans for the new gallery space and the creation of an enterprise hub will create an additional modern-day use for the market and attract new people and businesses into the area.

"Local people will also benefit from the revamp of the market and its facilities, which will include toilets and a caf."

Cardiff-based architects Austin Smith Lord have worked to combine 21st-century designs with the traditional architecture.