Plans to give Aberdeen a new civic heart will be unveiled to the public today.
These images show how the developers of the £107million Marischal Square scheme want to turn the city’s Broad Street into a public space free of cars and buses where people can walk between shops and restaurants.
The public will be able to view images of the Muse proposals, which are being funded by Aviva Investors, at Aberdeen Art Gallery today and tomorrow before a full planning application is submitted later this month.
The vision for Aberdeen City Council’s former St Nicholas House headquarters site will include 175,000sqft of office accommodation.
There will be 250 associated parking spaces, a 125-bed hotel and 42,900sqft of civic space on Broad Street between Marischal College and the Marischal Square development site, with the section fully pedestrianised.
The authority’s director of enterprise, planning and infrastructure, Gordon McIntosh, claimed the scheme would significantly boost the local economy.
“This site is one of the last remaining significant development sites in Aberdeen city centre,” he said.
“The proposals for the site are exciting – a hotel, offices, shops and restaurants, which will bring new jobs into the area, significantly boosting the local economy and business growth.
“Marischal Square will be the catalyst for further development of the city centre.”
The project is expected to create 300 construction posts and could potentially sustain 1,500 jobs in the area after it is completed in 2017.
Under the funding agreement with Aviva Investors, Aberdeen City Council will lease the Marischal Square development and receive rental profits for 35 years when the ownership of the site and development will transfer to the local authority.
Fears were raised that the 469-year-old Provost Skene’s House would be overshadowed by the complex, but developers revised their plans to give the museum “greater prominence” following two exhibition consultations last year.
Marie Boulton, deputy leader of Aberdeen City Council, urged the public to share their views on the project again, as part of the statutory planning consultation after the application is submitted.
She said: “The response by the public to Muse’s consultation has been fantastic.
“The proposals have generated a huge amount of interest and I am sure that interest will continue as the final proposals are laid out.
“The project has now reached a very exciting stage and I would encourage everyone who has a view on it to go along to the exhibition at the art gallery on Friday and Saturday to see the plans, including the model of the scheme, for themselves.
“There will also be an opportunity to view the information at Marischal College after the weekend.
“Whatever your views on the Marischal Square proposals, I would encourage the Aberdeen public to make them known.”
Steve Turner, of Muse Developments, added: “We will be replacing the former 15-storey St Nicholas House building with new office and commercial buildings that will respect the city’s granite history and be no more than seven storeys high, and that again is something the public were keen to see reflected in Marischal Square.”
The Marischal Square plans and images will be available at a special exhibition in Aberdeen Art Gallery today, from 10am-5pm, and tomorrow from 10am-3pm.
The exhibition materials will also be on display in the reception area of Marischal College from April 7-17.
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