Tate neighbours can’t complain about nosey visitors, appeal judges rule

Floor-to-ceiling windows in flats alongside Tate Modern’s Blavatnik building leave residents visible to gallery visitors
Floor-to-ceiling windows in flats alongside Tate Modern’s Blavatnik building leave residents visible to gallery visitors
CHRIS J RATCLIFFE FOR THE TIMES

The lives of residents of glass-walled flats overlooked by the Tate Modern art gallery’s viewing platform have been under constant surveillance as tourists peep into their homes.

Lindsay Urquhart, 48, an architect whose flat is viewed by an estimated 600,000 people each year, said that she felt “as though my life revolves around the viewing platform’s opening hours”.

She was one of five residents of the Neo Bankside block of flats whose attempt to force the gallery to close off part of its platform failed yesterday at the Court of Appeal. A panel of three judges not only upheld the previous High Court judgment but declared that there is no right in English law not to be overlooked from another property.

People on the Tate Modern viewing latform can see straight into Lindsay Urquhart’s flat
People on the Tate Modern viewing latform can see straight into Lindsay Urquhart’s flat

The “right to peep”