Beautifying The Mall: ‘The architecture of the buildings cannot be covered by signboards’

TMO says The Mall will be free of all extra boards by Monday.

LAHORE:

The façade design committee, a sub-committee of the Dilkash Lahore Project Committee, has decided to get rid of advertising boards from The Mall. The boards will likely be replaced by cut-outs.

The sub-committee has divided The Mall into five zones for standardised signage. Each zone will have its own font and colour. The subcommittee is yet to finalise the fonts and colours in each zone. The plan will be put into gear after approval from the Dilkash Lahore Committee. The meeting, however, has now been delayed from its earlier scheduled date of December 22.

Faisal Chowk to Hall Road is zone 1 on the left and zone 2 on the right side. Hall Road to High Court Chowk is zone 3 on the left and zone 4 on the right side. High Court Chowk to McLeaod Road is Zone 5 on the right side. The sub-committee will also propose the installation of LED lights to illuminate the cut-outs.

The sub-committee, earlier, had hoped to present three proposals regarding signs on The Mall. However, members of the Dilkash Lahore Project asked the sub-committee to submit a detailed plan of signs rather than ask for advice.

Architect Zahid Hussain, a member of the sub-committee, said the cut-outs might be a bit expensive to install, however, the cost of maintenance would be less. Hussain added that the new signs would look better and would not hide the façade of the building. The corporate identity of the business would be respected, the architect said, adding that the historical significance and architecture of the buildings could not be covered by boards and panaflexes. He said the size of the proposed cut-outs would be different for shops on different floors.

Hussain said they were considering four styles of fonts. He said historic buildings would also have the same fonts on their cut-outs as designated for their zone.

Hussain said that in two weeks’ time they would be able to complete the inventory on The Mall. He said that every building’s architectural and historic value and significance would be mentioned in the inventory. The architect said that they would also try to retrieve the original façade design from the archives.

Assistant Commissioner Saira Omer, who is heading a team constituted by the District Coordination Officer Lahore, is getting extra shop signs removed from The Mall Road.

Samanabad Town Municipal Officer Arif Butt said many boards had been removed. He said by Monday The Mall would be free of extra boards.   

Published in The Express Tribune, December 22^nd, 2012.