School of Art concerns over O2 ABC redevelopment plans

Planning consultants Porter Planning, on behalf of the art school, stated: “Regeneration cannot come at the cost of the permanent degradation of the city’s most significant cultural asset.”

It claims the development introduces “an oppressive sense of enclosure, fundamentally altering the character of the Mackintosh Building”.

It added that the art school is working towards a funded and phased pathway for rebuilding.

Property consultants Iceni Project, on behalf of House of Social, which is part of Vita Group, say the fires have already destroyed the fabric of the Mackintosh building.

The statement adds the effects of the proposal on “the Mack” are limited, saying it is already badly lit.

Iceni Project also said there had been no facts provided showing the Mackintosh can be restored, or whether it could be rebuilt in the same style as before.