Greenwich shopfront change rejected by Council
Changes made to a former Nat West bank in Greenwich town centre have been rejected after Screwfix changed the frontage without permission.
The building isn’t just in any town centre but one with a Conservation Area and in a World Heritage Zone. In other words, stronger rules apply.
While many other major national brands put in sensitive and attractive signage, Screwfix ignored that and installed a pretty garish and frontage with numerous signs and a flat, bright white fascia board.
What pictures don’t quite capture is that this area has many attractive shopfronts and buildings. It offers a stark contrast.
Given its prominence at point where the road curves, it stands out like a sore thumb. Refusal is of little surprise. A report states:
“The proposed advertisements, specifically the fascia board, side wall signage and projecting sign by virtue of their detailed design, material and colour, would constitute unsympathetic and incongruous alterations which would cause harm to the character of the host building, the Greenwich Town Centre, the West Greenwich
Conservation Area and the character of the UNESCO Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site more widely.”
Nat West occupied the site for decades before vacating.
Changes
It’s not as if major changes are required to make it a whole lot better. Remove signs both beneath and above the windows for one thing.
The main sign doesn’t need to be bright white across the entire building front.
Another shop did seek to open on site and submitted far more attractive frontage plans, though Screwfix pipped them. They bothered to submit a plan for change in advance.
What’s interesting is why Screwfix thought they could simply ignore the rules that others – both independent and independent – abide by.
They assumed they could get away with excessive and clumsy signage in a world heritage zone location? One that attracts millions of tourists each year?
The likes of Greggs and Jennings Bet seen above manage to have frontages which are contextual.
Usage
Ignoring the tacky frontage, in terms of the type of shop a Screwfix is much welcome. Rather than being located in out-of-town retail parks having shops like this in town centres is excellent for many.
Complaints about the frontage are not at all about what it sells or the company it is but rather not playing by the rules and having a contextual shopfront.
It’s about giving a damn for the town and location a company is based in, and a large national retailer like Screwfix can certainly afford to do that.
Don’t put stickers, logos or writing on every available space, don’t have a flat fascia which looks cheap and preferably have hanging signage. As a report states, the main sign “is considered to be of a poor design outcome for the character of the building and the historic value of the streetscape”.
If many other chains and independents can do it, so can they.
Quite right about the signage/faschia board, etc, taking the **** out of Council. They know they’ll get away with it for a while, with no financial penalties. There should be financial penalties (and if a chain, a penalty on a scale reflecting their business scale). Oliver Bonas’ design looks perfect for here. I half agree about the usefulness of diy shops in town centres, but it makes Greenwich just like any other bland town centre. Screwfix are in every one I visit! Retail parks have their uses in car-centric societies outside cities (the Greenwich Shopping Park in Charlton has to die in an area trying to substantially reduce car use, even though it’s mostly through traffic from outside the area), but smaller local shops are ideal here within walking and cycling distances for most. They’d then replace the much-missed-by-me local hardware stores ‘to an extent’ (though u can rarely buy one odd screw, etc! B&Q would sell you 100. I miss the ‘out of all hours’ scenario a lot. The light brown overalls, the ladder to reach that one box which contains exactly what you want, and the guy serving who knows his stuff and his stock inside out. Just like Dave in the plumbers’ merchants before he gave it up to escape the traffic on Trafalgar Road and its polluting air for the green green grass (now brown) of walking the dogs in Kent. Often giving the odd piece away free (to keep your custom, of course-sensible businessmen). So Screwfix in a building like that, in that high-profile location?? A BIG NOT ON YOUR NELLY if I were on the council. Maybe much further along Greenwich High Road, or Creek Road, or Woolwich Road, but not here. This should be a business to suit the building, maybe even an antiques market inside. Or a high-end gallery. Or maybe yet another Nail Parlour haha, (god forbid) to add to the trillion there are along Trafalgar Road and elsewhere. I never realised there were so many nails which needed painting. What happens when fashion changes again back to ‘au naturelle’ (quite likely in an age of tight budgets, green issues, save the planet, etc becoming cooler to the young while the planet heats up). It beggars belief how shops on Trafalgar got away with half their shopfront signage. Anything outside the WHC but still in the E.Greenwich and W. Greenwich Conservation Areas seems to get away with gross plastic signage, neon lighting, etc. Why? And some look as if they have not seen an update in paint or anything for centuries, which isn’t heritage; it’s laziness, poor businessmen, and freehold property sitting on investments.
You ave all your cyclist centric places n all. Ere are you ave lanes, roads, paths n even pavements. Is there any where yourn don’t go. Give us pedestrans a break on ere. The Greenwich Shoppin park is doin well n creatin jobs somethin the likes of the grims would get rid of in one fell swoop.
Haha, just noticed my typo- should be ‘open all hours! (with Ronnie Barker) not out of all hours! Oops
I aint laughin meself, juss your ubris.
It beggars belief that ScrewFix did not speak to council planners about what they could ,and could not, do in a World Heritage Site.
They are a big chain with their own property people there to advise.
Absolutely no excuses and shows contempt for the local area.
We need to see swift enforcement action now from council officers.
Yeah a council officer told me abahrt it our BWH panel meetin. But nothin was done abahrt it. The GS done nothin n all.
Hi
Abusing others whether as individuals or companies is still abuse
I doubt if they have learnt anything
If Screwfix had a HR Dept worth it’s salt they would have approached the Council not just Greenwich with their proposals beforehand
Unfortantely we live in a world were its do what i want all the time, because i can and what you going to do about it ( the age of toddler trump)
Fair play to the council but it seems to have taken an age to call it out. Lots of people were flagging its amazing that was allowed.
Having said that maybe scewfix can supply some tools to fix the cluster that is creek road bridge.
I noticed the Screwfix shop in Greenwich about a month ago and thought it was an odd fit for the town centre. The fascia is cheap and garish, too.