The long-running legal dispute between London’s Tate Modern and the residents of an adjacent apartment building has ended, with the gallery agreeing to block users of its viewing gallery from looking into the flats.
The viewing platform, part of an extension to Tate Modern named the Blavatnik Building, opened to the public in June 2016. The walkway on the 10th floor offers panoramic views of London, but also allows people to stare directly into the adjacent Neo Bankside flats.
Residents of the apartments grouped together and sued the Tate, alleging that the fact that thousands of members of the public used the platform to peer into their homes constituted a “nuisance” in law.
They lost in the High Court, and lost again in the Court of Appeal, for different reasons. But in February, the Supreme Court settled the matter, ruling that the viewing deck was indeed a “nuisance” (see also EG’s law report on the decision [2023] EGLR 14).
The judges, however, left it open to the parties to decide whether they should reach an agreement about how to proceed. One option would be for the Tate to pay the residents damages, assessed by the High Court. This would lead to more court hearings and more legal argument.
Instead, according to a statement from Forsters, the law firm representing the residents, the sides have reached an agreement.
The Tate has signed a court-approved undertaking that it “will not… operate the outdoor area of Level 10 of the Blavatnik Building… in such a manner as to enable visitors to Tate Modern to engage in intrusive viewing or photography of Flats C2101, C1901 or C1301 of Block C of Neo Bankside, 70 Holland Street, London SE1 9NX in the manner that has been held to be a nuisance in these proceedings”.
The viewing platform was reopened to the public in September, and the gallery currently prevents overlooking by blocking public access to the parts of the deck nearest to the flats.
Natasha Rees, senior partner at Forsters, said: “An award of damages was never our clients’ aim, and they are grateful for the Tate’s recent willingness, instead, to agree that the viewing platform will not be operated in a way which causes nuisance.
“They are pleased that this long-running dispute has been concluded.”
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