Tate wins court battle to keep its viewing gallery

The Court of Appeal has rejected a claim that visitors' use of a viewing gallery in a new extension to Tate Modern constitutes a 'private nuisance'. Occupants of flats in a development next to Tate had hoped to obtain an injunction requiring trustees to close the viewing gallery that overlooks their homes.

The flat-owners alleged that visitors have an uninterrupted view into their living areas and have been taking photographs and observing them through binoculars. They alleged that the use of the viewing gallery unreasonably interfered with their enjoyment of their flats so as to be a nuisance, and claimed that Tate was in breach of the Human Rights Act. But the Court has dismissed the claims, with the judge finding that, in choosing to buy their properties – which have floor-to-ceiling glass windows – they had submitted themselves to increased sensitivity to privacy.