Winning Design in International Design Competition for Aberdeen City Garden Unveiled

Aberdeen’s city centre could be spectacularly transformed by a stunning contemporary design that will give Aberdeen an additional 70,000 square feet of green space within eight distinct gardens, an iconic cultural and arts centre with café and other facilities and two new plazas on Union Street and Belmont Street.

The jury of the International Design Competition for the City Garden Project has chosen the winner after additional design work on and further extensive reviews of the two most popular designs from the short-list of six on display at the public exhibition.

The internationally renowned and award-winning practice of Diller Scofidio & Renfro, who collaborated with local Scottish architects, Keppie Design and landscape architects Olin Studio was chosen over the Foster & Partners-led team.

The winning design celebrates and reinterprets the topography of the city and the dramatic cascade of the Denburn Valley and existing gardens while creating graceful new spaces and structures with an iconic cultural and arts space.

The design provides significantly more, useable garden space and promotes the city’s historic bridged streets, revealing the arches, vaults and bridge on Union Street and retaining the balustrades and statues, which are part of Aberdeen’s historic legacy.

Charles Renfro, partner at Diller Scofidio & Renfro said the practice was very excited about ‘jumping across the pond’, commenting: “The steep competition drove us that much harder to do more research, to understand the site more thoroughly, to dig deeper into our creative reserve and our technical expertise to find a daring, thoughtful and beautiful solution.

“While the City Garden is at the heart of Aberdeen, that current heart has little pulse. We feel that we can make it throb and bring life and energy into the centre of town. By making the park greener, more accommodating to passive and active uses, more engaged at its edges, the gardens can become a magnet for this otherwise youthful and energetic city. The project reflects an integration of landscape design, museum design and design for the performing arts, the primary focuses of our practice.”

The jurors considered information from a technical panel, face-to-face discussions with the teams as well as public and stakeholder feedback. The winning design scored higher in all key areas of the brief including creation of more new space, cost and viability in the construction and on-going maintenance, environmental sustainability and energy efficiency.

Malcolm Reading, the competition organiser, said: ‘This is an exciting outcome and a great coup for the city. This ingenious and inspiring design for Aberdeen’s key public space gives the city a new social landscape but one rooted in its extraordinarily rich heritage and natural assets.”

Chairman of the jury, Sir Duncan Rice said: “The Diller Scofidio team had thought long and hard about Aberdeen's special history and unique needs. Answer by answer, they overwhelmed the jury with their vision and their sensitivity to the whole downtown context. They are flexible and responsive, and the thrilling concept they have offered will continue to adapt and evolve as discussion proceeds. I'm proud that our city has been able to attract a team which combines distinction, creativity and urban experience.”

Charles Landry, author of The Creative City and jury member, added: “This is a design that can act as the catalyst to regenerate the whole of Aberdeen’s city centre with significant economic impacts for the entire city. Truly inspiring, it can put Aberdeen onto the global radar screen - very, very few designs can do this. In time it will be surely loved by locals and visitors alike. Without this type of transformational change, Aberdeen will struggle to meet the challenges it will inevitably face in the future.”

The winning design concept will now be subject to a referendum. If the referendum reveals that the public are in support of the project, detailed designs will be produced for a planning application.

John Stewart, chairman of the City Garden Project management board said: “This design will not only transform the Union Terrace gardens site but our whole city. I also believe it will transform the way in which Aberdonians perceive, use and enjoy the city centre. This could be Aberdeen’s Eden Project, our Guggenheim, and will be a unique space that nowhere else in Europe can offer. With this design, we can truly aspire to be a contemporary city of style, culture and verve.

“It creates a range of diverse and distinct garden spaces where you can imagine walking, playing and relaxing. It provides two new plazas off the bustle of Union Street and onto Belmont Street and an amazing new contemporary arts centre and café, not to mention the outdoor and indoor performance spaces where we can imagine all sorts of concerts and cultural events. It will draw people into the site from all sides, creating new vistas and viewpoints of city landmarks."

Along with Aberdeen City Council and consultants, PWC, the City Garden Project team has been developing a solid business case for funding the project, as part of the wider city centre regeneration scheme.

Mr Stewart added: “We promised the public we would deliver an exceptional design and then produce a detailed economic assessment. This will be announced shortly so that the public know what the project could look like, how it will be funded and the economic benefits it will bring before making their decision in the referendum.”