The following is an extract from the Dominic Fairlie’s presentation of the Awards for 2023/24 which were made on 26 March 2025

There is one major theme running through all the awards looked at this time.  It is the re-use or remodelling of an established building or place.

It is so difficult and costly to do, but worthwhile in the end.  There are many different rules and regulations nowadays that make it almost impossible to modify an old building and get it to comply.  If it is possible, it is likely to be expensive.  To make any development happen there probably needs to be a carrot and stick approach – unfortunately, when it comes to working on an old building there are plenty of sticks and just not enough carrots.  Incentives to do it are hard to find – it is easier to demolish and start again.  The main incentive for doing any work tends to be a financial one, and in this important regard, Aberdeen is struggling at the moment.  We should all be careful to make sure that this does not mean that there is an even higher amount of inappropriate development that gives rise to a loss of character, heritage and granite buildings.

So, bearing in mind the difficulties, here are the three award winning projects all of which follow the theme of a building or place having been upgraded or renewed.  There is one Principal Award and two Commendations.

Commendation Award - The Murtle Market

The first Commendation goes to the Murtle Market by Camphill School.  This is located on the North Deeside Road between Bieldside and Milltimber.  It used to be a run-down property on the Camphill Estate and Campus.  Camphill has upgraded the building and created a venture called the Murtle Market.  It provides opportunities for meaningful work opportunities, giving a sustainable outlet for produce from the Camphill Estate as well as somewhere to showcase local art and crafts.  It is a link to the wider local community, positioned on one of the main arterial routes into Aberdeen and welcoming to anyone who would like to visit it to buy something unique or take time in the café.   An excellent repurposing of an existing building.

This project is a great example of what is possible.  It gives a benefit to so many people – even if all you are doing is passing it on the road.  However, don’t just drive past it, turn in one day to see what is on offer at the Murtle Market.

Principal Award - Union Terrace Gardens

So, on now to our final award, which is Aberdeen Civic Society’s Principal Award for 2023/24.  This is another project on Union Street, and it goes to Aberdeen City Council for the work that has been done to remodel and refurbish Union Terrace Gardens.

The refurbishment to the Gardens has been a long running story.  Over the years there have been many proposals, some with quite far-out ideas.  However, what has now been delivered is something a bit more modest, but much more sympathetic to the historic role the gardens have played for Aberdeen.  The work that has been done to the gardens has retained them in a way that if, by fluke, you came back in 100 years’ time, you would still recognise the place as Union Terrace Gardens.

Union Terrace Gardens is Aberdeen’s equivalent to Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh.  Over many years they will have been used by people who lived and worked in the city centre – it was their area of open space.  However, the number of residents living in the centre has reduced as more and more of the residential properties were taken over by shops and offices and other commercial activities.  The centre changed from a mixed-use area having both residences and commercial activities to one being mainly commercial.  Residents moved out – and with it went the 24-hour life for the city centre.

More recently there has been a desire to encourage life back to the centre by encouraging evening and night-time activities – and this meant a proliferation of clubs and bars.  The latest move is to see the resident move back in.  Places like Union Terrace Gardens have struggled a bit to find their place through all this change.  The gardens became less well used and then even a little threatening.

Just simple things like the tree cover and vegetation had grown to such an extent that, whilst the trees provided a green canopy for the adjacent streets, it made the gardens even more forbidding because what went on in them was hidden from nearby streets.

Improvements to the gardens were seen as be a way to rejuvenate the centre of Aberdeen.  Unfortunately, it became quite political and even quite nasty.

Out of all the schemes proposed, there is now something built that is relatively modest – a scheme which retained the historic character of the gardens.  The basic form is the same, much of the materials have been saved, refurbished or reused, the topography of the Denburn Valley is still there, it is now possible to see right into the gardens from adjacent streets and better access was made possible.  The space is larger than it used to be, more accessible and more visible.  And, although expensive, not as expensive as some of the other proposals – both to build and to maintain.

There are bound to be some people who think that what has been done is not right, be it the slopes on some of the planted beds, the design of the 3 tramcar buildings or maybe it is just not to their taste.  Over time these concerns will fade.  Aberdeen City Council has done a good job of navigating through to a great solution for Aberdeen.  It is already well used, and this is a good sign.

Union Terrace Gardens has been an asset for Aberdeen for nearly 150 years.  Hopefully it will remain that way for the next 150 years, and maybe even longer than that.  Well done Aberdeen City Council – congratulations.