Banner plan to keep eyesore under wraps

Published on Thursday 8 January 2009 08:50

ONE of the Capital's biggest eyesores is set to be wrapped in a giant illuminated banner ahead of its proposed £850 million redevelopment.

Developers behind plans to demolish the St James Centre want to cover part of the existing structure with a massive "jigsaw" measuring roughly 60ft by 240ft.

The banner, which will cover the upper levels of New St Andrew House, will build up a picture of the inside of the proposed development by gradually revealing artists' impressions like a puzzle.

There will also be a smaller illuminated advertising panel set within the larger banner.

Planning permission is currently being sought to bulldoze the St James Centre complex, which includes New St Andrew House, and replace it with two hotels, shops and luxury flats.

The project, the biggest city centre development in recent memory, could create up to 4000 retail jobs and 7000 jobs during the lengthy construction phase.

Henderson Global Investors, the owners of the shopping centre, say the development could also provide a 20m shot in the arm for the city's tourism trade.

The banner, which will be visible from Leith Walk, has been recommended for approval by council officials and could remain in place for up to three years.

Planners say the banner would be useful for "concealing" the empty office accommodation which forms part of one of the Capital's most maligned edifices.

In a report to councillors, John Bury, the council's head of planning, said: "Although the banner would be large, it would be set in the context of a host building that is very considerable in scale and massing.

"The proposal would provide an opportunity to conceal this part of the complex, the appearance of which is exacerbated by virtue of the office accommodation being empty.

"It would introduce a potentially interesting and stimulating feature which would be limited to a single elevation, thereby ensuring an appropriate degree of visual containment when read against the backdrop of the remainder of the complex."

Last year, retailer John Lewis was ordered to remove an advert in the window of the company's store in the St James Centre.

Council officials said the poster was dragging down the appearance of the area, despite the office buildings behind the shop once being described as a form of "architectural vandalism".

The new banner is expected to be given the go-ahead when the application goes before the council's development management subcommittee on Wednesday.