Annual Awards Ceremony for 2015

The Civic Society Awards Ceremony for 2015 took place at the Town & County Hall on 21 October 2015.  It was hosted by Councillor George Adam, the Lord Provost of Aberdeen and attended by award winners and a number of our members.

The awards sub-committee, under the chairmanship of Alan Silver, were delighted to have made a number of awards under the categories of Mentions and Commendations.  This year there were no full Awards nor was there an Award for Craftsmanship as the committee considered that whilst there were some strong contenders, none of the nominations actually came up to the high standards that are expected of projects.

This is a brand new office building located on Palmerston Road, the area that lies between the car park for Union Square and the River Dee.  It is another new office development in the area that was formerly the home of so many small fishing businesses - now being taken over by big business.

Generally, we were impressed by this building.  It is imposing.  I am sure that many local people will have noticed it going up over the last few years as it is visible from a number of vantage points in the city – and this is one.

It is built right on the street.  Beside it is a multi-storey car park that is actually not too bad, and at least it takes the vehicles out of sight.

The more critical amongst us thought that the detailing was a bit simple and that the landscaping a little crude.  For example, could the trees not have been planted in the street rather than in elevated planting beds?  There were also questions about the longevity of some of the public realm works.

However, there were plenty of good things.  For those on the committee who are concerned about the impact that development has on the street and the public realm, particularly in how the development is likely to encourage activity in the street, the whole development was seen as very positive.  Last year I commented on the benefits that the existing street pattern has on the new development in this whole area, meaning that any new development has to fit within the existing street pattern rather than generate its own.  By doing this it is possible to avoid an overly dominant road design and it is therefore a much better experience for the pedestrian.  We liked it.  A good and positive impact on its surroundings.

This is a new house which sits on a prominent corner site of Springfield Road and Springfield Avenue.

It is very visible from Springfield Road.  Some members of the awards committee were very taken with this property and thought that it worked “seamlessly” on the site, even though it is visually a little bizarre.

It is relatively compact, with parking underneath and good use has been made of the differences in level.

It was let down a little by some of the finer detail - things like the pointing and the way the windows were framed.  It was obvious that some effort had been made to do things differently – for example the fences were a series of modern upright poles – not something that I had seen before.  In summary, the materials could have been better, but in general it is good.

Frederick Street lies north of the Castlegate between King Street and Park Street.

We were looking at this car park.  I have to say that this raised a few differing opinions amongst members of the awards committee.  Last year we gave an award to the Health Centre on the opposite side of Frederick Street.  The street has been untidy for some time but the new development that has taken place in the last few years – and on both sides of the street - has definitely improved the public realm and feel of the area, and this car park is one of those new developments.

The car park is visually sculptural – it is the combination of the galvanised panels, the mix of parallel lines created by the ramps visible behind the facade facing the street and the industrial nature of it all makes it what it is.  The architects amongst us thought this was a highlight, creating an interesting visual contrast to other buildings in the street.

Some on our committee raised concerns about the building’s practicalities, using it at night when some of the lighting is on automatic sensors.  Others thought that the landscaping work is a bit untidy and is already looking in need of maintenance.  On balance though, we did feel that the car park provided as good a visual interest as any of the other buildings in Frederick Street and definitely contributed to a revived vitality in the area.  The improvement to the public realm is significant.

The existing North East Scotland College buildings, which are bounded by Gallowgate, Loch Street and Spring Garden, have had a makeover.  This was no doubt prompted by a desire to improve heat efficiency.

However, in doing this the appearance of the buildings have actually been improved, so much so that we had to consider it as part of our awards this year.

We are delighted that North East Scotland College has invested money into the existing buildings in the centre of Aberdeen.  Students provide a real buzz about the place and encouraging them to remain in to the centre of the city is important.  I am sure it would have been easy for the College to de-camp out of their city centre site but instead they have stayed put and made a strong commitment to it.

The former buildings were a bit drab.  But the re-cladding work that has taken place looks good.  It improves the way that the building looks and it all seems to work well in its context.  It is neither overly flashy nor dull.  It is just a significant improvement to our built environment, which is something that is at the heart of what Aberdeen Civic Society strives to do.

To have done all this work while at the same time continuing to use the site for students must have been a challenge at times, but we applaud this investment in the centre of our city.  Well done.

And the graphic on the side – pretty good too.

The existing North East Scotland College buildings, which are bounded by Gallowgate, Loch Street and Spring Garden, have had a makeover.  This was no doubt prompted by a desire to improve heat efficiency.

However, in doing this the appearance of the buildings have actually been improved, so much so that we had to consider it as part of our awards this year.

We are delighted that North East Scotland College has invested money into the existing buildings in the centre of Aberdeen.  Students provide a real buzz about the place and encouraging them to remain in to the centre of the city is important.  I am sure it would have been easy for the College to de-camp out of their city centre site but instead they have stayed put and made a strong commitment to it.

The former buildings were a bit drab.  But the re-cladding work that has taken place looks good.  It improves the way that the building looks and it all seems to work well in its context.  It is neither overly flashy nor dull.  It is just a significant improvement to our built environment, which is something that is at the heart of what Aberdeen Civic Society strives to do.

To have done all this work while at the same time continuing to use the site for students must have been a challenge at times, but we applaud this investment in the centre of our city.  Well done.

And the graphic on the side – pretty good too.

This used to be the corner shop and restaurant called the Olive Tree on Queens Road.

Now it is an office with an extension to the side and another one to the rear.  The side extension is very visible from Queens Road, but in fact both are visible from the local network of streets and lanes.  The extension to the side is shaped to reflect that of the old tollbooth on Queens Road.  It is built of granite and glass, but it was not the materials, it was more the form and shape that was interesting.

The second extension at the rear of the building is boxier in shape.  We felt that this had has no-where near the same quality and impact as the side extension.

There is a modern extension also on the building on the other side of the lane, and the two (that one and this) work pretty well together.  Some on the committee questioned the use of railings, and suggested that they did not add that much – in fact it may have looked better with no railings at all.  Despite this we felt the work here was good, we liked the side extension more than we did the rear one.

This site lies between Bucksburn and Dyce, in land that originally would have been part of Stoneywood Mill.

The site benefits from a stunning landscape with well-established trees and pockets of open areas.  This is a large development scheme that has been on the go for some time now.

It has been successful in that it makes good use of the landscape features and has augmented what is there already with extensive planting in the open areas and the gardens of the private properties.

The properties are predominantly white with some timber panelling.  Walls have been used extensively to differentiate between the private and public realm.

One thing that Dandara has done is that it has taken mixed use to heart.  They have built on the site both their own offices and a small convenience shop, operated by the Co-Op.  A little separate as a building perhaps, but good none the less.

Some of the detailing of the buildings, in particular the very white render may not weather too well in future.  However, these were minor gripes in the overall scheme of things, and it was the landscaping that was picked up on repeatedly by members of the awards committee.  A very good effort, and work still in progress.

The “SO” café now occupies the property that was Waterstones bookshop on the corner of Union Street and Bon Accord Street.  The rather ugly canopy over the pavement has been removed and more traditional signboard and frontage has been put up.

It has transformed this corner, making it much more visually attractive.

There were comments in the committee that there was some modern detailing which did not sit particularly well with the traditional appearance of the signboard.  But in general we liked the improvement that had taken place to this important and noticeable corner on Union Street.