News

Turley provides Heritage advice for new Aldi store in Perth

We provided expert Heritage services to Aldi on their plans to build a new bigger store in Perth, which were unanimously approved by Perth and Kinross Council earlier this month.

The new store which would replace Aldi's Glasgow Road store has had permission granted for a new access junction from Necessity Brae, parking facilities, retaining structures and landscaping. It is located to the north-east of the Aviva UK Insurance Building, a Category A listed building.

The Aviva UK Insurance Building, designed and constructed between 1979 and 1983 is one of Scotland’s finest commercial office buildings of the period. It’s stepped design means that the building appears to emerge from the hillside on which it is located as a series of stepped terraces with rooftop gardens. The design also means views out from the building incorporate both foreground planting (on the roof terraces) along with long distance views to the north towards the Perth City Centre and the skyline beyond.

Responding to concerns raised by Historic Environment Scotland (HES) that the proposed Aldi store would detract from the setting of the listed building, our Heritage team worked alongside the wider design team to advise on changes to the design of the proposed supermarket development. This included the choice of building materials and the landscaping plan for the proposals to minimise effects upon the setting and special interest of the listed building.

These amendments and the provision of additional supporting information, including the Heritage Assessment report prepared by our team, resulted in HES removing their concerns to the proposals and contributed to Perth and Kinross Council’s support for the application.

The plans were approved subject to conditions addressing issues such as noise, transport and light.

Following the committee meeting Aldi's property director for Scotland Philip Johnston, said:

"I am delighted that the application for our new store at Necessity Brae has been approved which will allow us to relocate from our Glasgow Road store. I would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone for their support and we can’t wait to bring our award-winning discount offer to the area."

21 June 2022