‘Garish’ colour revamp for RBS to match NatWest branding raises eyebrows at Highland Council
The impact of "garish" new-style Royal Bank of Scotland branding has sparked changes to the exterior of a brand new £2.5 million flagship branch in Inverness.
RBS is looking to close its existing branches in the city's Harbour Road and the upper floor of the Eastgate Centre and merge the teams in a new superhub site facing onto Falcon Square.
The flit, which will see the superhub open in vacant units on the outside of the Eastgate Centre next to Subway, is part of wider restructuring plans for the bank - which announced 18 branch closures in Scotland by September, with the loss of 105 jobs.
However, in Inverness, the merger of the two branches into one combined site is not expected to result in any job losses.
And the plans are now a step nearer reality after proposals for the exterior signage were approved by Highland Council - but not before lighting was revised amid concerns over their "somewhat garish" brand design.
RBS, which is owned by NatWest, is in the process of a rebrand which is seeing the Scottish bank shed its traditional royal blue colour scheme in favour of the same purple shade used by its parent company's bank branches.
And the branding revamp appears to have ruffled feathers amid conservation officers at the council, owing to the new signage's proximity to nearby heritage buildings in the area around Falcon Square and the railway.
In a handling report issued by Highland Council after it granted permission for the new signs, the local authority mentioned that the Historic Environment team had raised issues stemming in part from the move from RBS's "tasteful deep royal blue" to the "somewhat garish" purple preferred by NatWest.
The document said: "This site is on the western corner of the Eastgate shopping-mall, outwith but on the border of the Inverness Riverside Conservation Area.
"Eastgate is omitted for obvious reasons, being a contemporary building of negligible architectural quality, but it does affect the setting of the heritage area (and the adjacent listed buildings, Falconer Building and the Rail Station).
"It is unfortunate that the RBS is being re-branded from a tasteful deep royal-blue colour to a somewhat garish Natwest purple. While we do not submit an actual objection to this colour, as well as the internally illuminated signage, we would request that both are re-considered - in light of the impact upon the heritage setting. Natwest/RBS presumably have 'heritage-options' for shopfronts and signs - which should be applied here.
"Similarly, as banks generally do not operate much in hours of darkness, we would request spotlit illumination instead of that proposed."
The document then noted that a compromise was reached amending the projecting sign's design, and also altering the original plans from internally-illuminated signs to ones with external halo lighting picking out the brand name and logo only. The purple colour scheme remains.
"Discussions with the agent and applicant took place, and the agreement to change lighting to HaloIllumination, along with amendments to the projecting sign have been approved by the conservation team and case officer,” said the report.
- What do you think? Are you a fan of the traditional “tasteful deep royal blue” colour scheme associated with RBS, or do you prefer the “somewhat garish” purple colour favoured by NatWest?
