Proposed flats by Art School rejected by planners

Architecture firm Haus Architects’ plan to replace a building on the corner of Sauchiehall Street and Dalhouse Street with a new block of student flats has been rejected by the Glasgow City Council planning committee.

The committee voted twelve to six against the proposal.

Campaigners argued that a new seven-story block of flats would have restricted daylight and obscured the Grade A-listed Mackintosh Building of the Glasgow School of Art.

The School of Art itself raised an objection to the plans, with a spokesperson arguing that restricted lighting would undermine the students’ experience of the interior. They added that the Mackintosh-designed building was as important as any other part of the School of Art.

Haus Architects responded by claiming that the new flats would “enhance a negative view of the building”.

The plot, formerly the Jumpin Jaks nightclub, has been out of use since the club’s closure and will remain so until a new buyer comes along.