LDRSA firm behind rejected plans to display adverts over the entrance to the St Enoch shopping centre has failed in an appeal to the Scottish Government.
Glasgow City Council turned down a bid to use illuminated vinyls on the glazed façade overlooking the Argyle Street and Buchanan Street junction.
They claimed the “scale, material and siting” of the advert would “result in a dominant feature which would cause significant harm”.
Blow Up Media UK Ltd, which made the application, urged the Scottish Government to overturn the ruling, but a reporter, appointed by ministers, has now dismissed the appeal.
They found: “Due to the design, location and prominence of the host building and scale of the advertising display… the proposal would have an unacceptable detrimental impact on amenity and on the character and appearance of the conservation area.”
Council planners had ruled the “scale, material and siting of advertisement would result in a dominant feature which would cause significant harm to visual amenity, the architectural quality of the building, the wider streetscape, and the character of the central conservation area”.
They added the “method of illumination fails to respect the architectural character and quality of the building and would detract from its original architectural design”.
Blow Up Media argued the building’s “atrium lends itself readily to a creative advertising feature”. It added the advert, from first to third floor level, would “retain the individual glazing divisions and hence retain the principal architectural feature of the façade and still enable some views into the building”.
The appeal stated the glazing has been “used intermittently for the shopping centre promotions over the last few years”.
“Although large, the proposal is well presented and broken up between the glazing divisions, and is highly contextual as the proposed advertising would principally relate to brands and products sold within the shopping centre itself,” it added.
The firm added it would “accept a condition on any consent that no illumination is permitted”.
But Aileen Mcluckie, the reporter appointed by Scottish Ministers, dismissed the appeal and refused advertisement consent.
“Oversized adverts are not supported by the council and high level signs should not over-dominate the streetscape as a result of their scale,” her report stated.
“The majority of advertising displays along the surrounding thoroughfares are at ground floor level which creates a unified character. The few other large scale advertising displays in the locality do not overly dominate individual buildings, prime vistas or obscure glazed façades.”
It added: “Within this context, due to the design, location and prominence of the host building and the scale of the advertising display, I consider the appeal proposal would dominate and adversely affect the architectural quality of the building and the streetscape.
“This would detrimentally affect amenity and the character and appearance of the conservation area.”
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