THE decision to allow modern changes to be made to a 1960s city centre building have been described as “disappointing.”

Both Bradford Civic Society and the 20th Century Society had raised concerns about proposals to replace hundreds of windows at Arndale House as part of a residential conversion.

The building is the only one in the UK to have been designed by John Graham and Partners, a US architecture firm that also designed the landmark Seattle Space Needle.

It was feared that replacing the floor length windows with UPVC windows in three segments would spoil its Brutalist character.

However the plans, by Xchange Development Company, have now been approved by Bradford Council, with planning officers saying the entire residential conversion would be “put in jeopardy” if the amendments were not approved.

The full length, metal framed windows were proposed as an amendment to an existing planning application to convert the nine storey former office building into flats. Refurbishing the existing, metal framed windows would prove so costly it would prove so costly it could make the whole development unviable - the developers claimed.

20th Century Society raises concerns about plans for 'important brutalist building'

The application also said the full length windows proved dangerous, and could be damaged in high winds.

Bradford Civic Society had said the building was a good example of 1960s architecture, and that the new windows were “poorly designed.”

The 20th Century Society wrote to Bradford Council to say the building was “an asset of great significance” that was “characterised by its regular pattern of single-paned and seemingly frameless windows.” They too opposed the changes.

The Council’s own heritage officers raised concerns about the proposals too - but planning officers said the benefits of the building being re-used outweighed the harm that would be caused by the changes.

Officers said: “The building is currently vacant and is undeniably in need of a viable use. Given that the viability of the proposed scheme, which would otherwise appear to be a good use for the building, is severely compromised by the additional costs of metal framed windows and that there are justifiable reasons for the windows to need to be segmented to allow partial opening, then weighing this against the benefit of bringing the building back in to use, providing a sustainable new use, providing housing to meet local need etc would indeed be reasonable to balance against the harm.”

After the decision a spokesperson for Bradford Civic Society’s Place Panel said: “The decision to grant these alterations is disappointing. It is the view of Bradford Civic Society, the 20th Century Society, and Bradford Council’s own Conservation team that the original plans submitted for external changes Arndale House were not of sufficient quality. Although some very minor concessions have been made by the developer to address to these concerns, the Council’s decision report suggests that the need for the private developer to save money outweighs the need for appropriate design and high-quality materials. Sadly, these kinds of decisions risk setting a precedent for low quality design in central Bradford, which could ultimately lead to a saturation of poor-quality flat conversions. That is certainly no way to improve the fortunes of a struggling city centre.”