A juice bar in Chalk Farm has lost the giant three-dimensional cup that decorated the side of its branch, after Camden Council ordered its removal because it had been put up without planning permission.
The cup, displayed on the wall on Hartland Road beside the Joe & The Juice branch, had been in place for around six months. Last week it was taken down by crane, despite intentions for it to stay until at least 2031.
The council stepped in and asked for the giant paint and vinyl cup to be removed pending planning approval, even though an application had been submitted in February. The cup measured, together with the whole mural, 13.7ft by 7.4ft as stated in planning documents.
A Camden Council spokesperson said: “This advertisement which has now been removed was displayed without consent. An application has been submitted and is still to be determined, however the applicant was advised this would not be approved as it does not comply with planning policy.”
The pink mural underneath, painted by doodle artist Frankie Curtis, will remain, with adjustments to remove the advertisement. The branch itself has not closed.
Why a shopfront cup needs consent
Advertisements on the outside of a building are not simply a matter for the shop owner. In planning terms, a large three-dimensional display counts as an advertisement, and displaying one without consent leaves the council able to require its removal, even where a planning application is already in the system.
That distinction matters here. The fact that an application was submitted in February did not, on its own, make the cup lawful while it was up. Until an application is determined, the display remains unauthorised, and the council’s position is that it was advised the proposal would not be approved because it does not comply with planning policy.
“Still to be determined” means the application has not yet had a formal decision. The council has, however, already signalled its view to the applicant, which leaves the cup’s return looking unlikely in its current form.
The planning application itself argued the case for the business in the area, saying: “Allowing Joe & The Juice to operate in the space will bring increased employment and opportunities for local people and continued social and economic regeneration of the borough.”
A wall with a history
The Hartland Road wall is no stranger to decoration. Previous murals on the same wall date back to 2014, and the site has long been one of Chalk Farm’s more colourful corners, close to the busy junction where Camden High Street meets Chalk Farm Road.
That stretch of north Camden has seen plenty of change in recent years, from the permanent pedestrianisation of part of Camden High Street to the steady churn of high-street businesses that keeps the area’s shopfronts in flux. A bold piece of street art or shopfront decoration can become a local landmark quickly — which is also why councils keep a close eye on what goes up, and for how long.
For now, the mural stays and the cup goes. The pink artwork by Frankie Curtis will remain on the wall, adjusted so that what is left is a mural rather than an advertisement. Whether any replacement display is proposed, and whether it would meet planning policy, will depend on what happens to the application still awaiting determination.
Shoppers heading to the area in the coming weeks will find the branch trading as normal, minus the oversized cup that had become its most photographed feature. The festive lights season is also approaching across the capital, when high streets compete harder than ever for attention — though any future display at this wall will need to clear the planning hurdle first.
