Proposed office block 'too high'

The site has been derelict since 2001

Conservationists have said a 10-storey building proposed for Nottingham's city centre is "too tall" for the area.

Leicestershire-based developers want to build a £35m office complex on the site of the derelict Odeon Cinema, which closed more than seven years ago.

The proposals for the 100,000 sq ft (9,290 sq m) development would stretch from Angel Row to Maid Marian Way.

Previous plans to turn the site into a nightclub and hotel have been rejected by the city council.

'Attractive' view

Hilary Sylvester from the Nottingham Civic Society said the design was "inappropriate" to the skyline of the city as it is "too tall".

"We want an appropriate scale that fits into the context of the street - in a human scale that will not impinge on the existing historic buildings," she said.

Antony Aspbury, a consultant working for developers Moore Herbert and Moore, said the designers spent a year looking at the design of the project before presenting it to the city council.

He said the 10-storey project would not "overawe" the historic character of the neighbouring buildings and was "an attractive view from the Market Square".

The NG One development would include coloured-glass panels and modern energy-efficient designs, the developers said.

Ian Chapman, spokesman for the developer's architects, said the project tries to "enliven the rather drab 1960s streetscape" in the area.