At a time when big ideas are being dreamed up to revitalise Aberdeen, here we take a look at some of the ambitious proposals previously mooted for the area… But that never quite made it off the drawing board.
Let’s, first of all, start with one of the most controversial proposals ever to go before Aberdeen City Council.
The original Union Terrace Gardens revamp
Designs from world-renowned architects were submitted in a bid to transform the Victorian gardens into a major visitor destination.
Local oil tycoon Sir Ian Wood pledged up to £85 million of his own money towards the City Square project to “ensure the economic survival of the city centre”.
The Granite Web was finally chosen as the favoured design option, beating the “Winter Garden” – a bid by Foster and Partners, who designed the “Gherkin” in London and the glass dome on Berlin’s Reichstag.
But after a fierce campaign that divided the city, and a referendum voting for the winning design, the council still threw out the plans.
This resulted in a dejected Sir Ian withdrawing his cash.
Could it be the wrong design was chosen after all, even though many described it as a concrete mess?
Aberdeen City Council has since reopened its £28 million redevelopment of the gardens.
Which would you have preferred?
Bypass statue a load of bull?
When it was announced that Kelpies creator Andy Scott was providing the city with ‘Poised’ – the majestic leopard which sits inside Marischal Square – ideas began swirling on how his work could bolster the wider north-east.
With the opening of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR) on the horizon, we spoke to him about the potential for creating an iconic statue, like the Kelpies, to sit aside the new road – marking its prominence.
Mr Scott was not averse to the idea and the concept of an Aberdeen Angus bull towering over the carriageway was born.
However, our artist’s impression did not hit the spot – with numerous complaints from farmers informing us we had used the wrong type of bull in our visual. Something we are still sorry for to this day.
However, despite our best efforts, nothing came of the roadside monument.
Do you think the AWPR would have been the ideal home for the sculpture?
Oil rig museum at Rubislaw Quarry
Ambitious plans to recycle an oil rig as a visitor attraction in the middle of Aberdeen’s Rubislaw Quarry were formed by local architect George Simpson.
His proposal would have incorporated a museum, underwater restaurants and diving bell trips.
Aberdeen businessman Hugh Black had also hoped to build a heritage centre honouring the granite industry on the side of the quarry, however, planning restrictions have so far put paid to his vision.
The Cable Car
In 2018 architect Chris Smith presented plans to connect Aberdeen city centre to the beach area and new south harbour development.
He said what started off as a “mad” idea turned out to be well received. Feasibility studies have since taken place to see how realistic a prospect it could be.
With plans to reinvent our beachfront, could the cable car still find its place as part of the renaissance... Or is it just pie in the sky?
The New York style High Line
Another idea mooted to link our city centre to the shore was a New York-style High Line.
Opportunity North East’s chief executive Jennifer Craw raised the idea four years ago during a tourism conference that was aimed at turning the region’s sector into a billion-pound industry.
It was just one idea she thought could draw visitors in from around the world.
Last year a group of architecture students resurrected the concept and have started working on initial plans.
Do you think this would be a welcome addition to the beach?
A ski slope atop an incinerator
In 2016 it was suggested a giant climbing wall, dry ski slope and picnic area could be built at Aberdeen’s controversial waste incinerator.
The ambitious proposal to install leisure facilities at the development in Torry was inspired by a model pioneered at similar plants in Denmark and the Netherlands.
Former city council chief and Lord Provost Barney Crockett asked Sport Aberdeen to consider the scheme.
He hoped the move would allay fears that the incinerator would harm the health of local residents.
But it provoked fury among campaigners in the south of the city, with the proposal dismissed as resembling a joke from a “Christmas cracker”.
Construction of the plant is now almost finished six years on so it’s perhaps a little too late to revive this one. Sorry, Mr Crockett.
A glass canopy over Union Street
In 2014 a new vision to revitalise Aberdeen’s ailing Union Street by way of a giant illuminated canopy was unveiled by the Halliday Fraser Munro architects.
It was to stimulate fresh debate on the future of the city.
Composed of a translucent, colour-changing canopy, it was hoped it would bring the indoors outdoors on the shopping thoroughfare between Market Street and Bridge Street.
It would connect the city’s main railway station with four existing shopping centres – Bon Accord, St Nicholas, Trinity and Union Square.
This would have entailed relocating the station entrance to a new civic square on Union Street, overlooking Union Terrace Gardens and restricting access to buses.
With plans now underway to revitalise Union Street as part of the city centre masterplan, could the canopy be back on the table?
It was certainly one of more than 4000 ideas to change the town centre for the better which were submitted to the action group Our Union Street set up at the start of 2023.
Take our poll here.
