It was originally envisaged as a modernist landmark for the Granite City when construction began in 1971.
Thanks to former high street giant BHS, the Aberdeen Market centre drew throngs of cash-rich shoppers eager to spend amid the prospect of a North Sea oil-driven boom.
But the concrete building, which straddles Market, Hadden and Union streets, and The Green, deteriorated steadily over the years, becoming, for many, an architectural scar.
Now it is facing demolition to make way for the latest development aimed at reinvigorating the heart of Scotland’s third largest city as economic storm clouds gather.
New images have been published following finalisation of plans which would see the centre make way for a glass and granite complex featuring a state-of-the-art business lounge along with retail, cafe and exhibition space.
The blueprints also include a civic area which could host public art installations and outdoor events, as well as markets and performances.
It comes as the coronavirus pandemic sends oil prices to record lows and threatens to throttle Aberdeen’s recovery from the previous slump which began in 2014.
Adrian Watson, chief executive officer at Aberdeen Inspired, the city centre business improvement district, hailed the planned development as one that would attract a new generation of commercial talent and underpin economic diversification.
“This is about bringing people back in to the city centre,” he said. “What [the developer is] offering is a mix of retail, leisure, culture and hospitality. We have a growing cultural scene and they have talked about an artistic space being put aside. It will draw entrepreneurs, start-ups.
“Traditional retail will still be there but there will be lots of change to it.”
Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce also welcomed the proposals. Russell Borthwick, chief executive, said: “The Aberdeen city region’s sector diversification strategy was making great strides prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, including a growing momentum behind the role Europe’s oil and gas capital can play in leading the world in the energy transition agenda and ensuring this is a region whose fortunes do not go up and down in line with the price of a barrel of crude.
“The impact of Covid-19 on the oil and gas market globally has been stark but against this backdrop it’s very encouraging to see that major inward investors have confidence in our future economic prospects and are still looking to continue with ambitious projects in support of the Aberdeen city centre masterplan.”
He added: “The Patrizia development will be the jewel in the crown of the Merchant Quarter and add to the new lease of life being enjoyed by that area including the incredible collection of Nuart street art on show.
“It is, however, just one part of the £10bn of infrastructure and regeneration projects jigsaw planned for the region and we urge all of the partners and stakeholders to do their utmost to ensure that we get back to business as usual as quickly as possible to pick up the momentum we had – supporting jobs and businesses in the North-east.”
Bosses at developer Patrizia said their proposals were drawn up following close consultation with city planners.
Director Shaun Hose said: “The council’s master planning, design and conservation team have been integral to the discussions and there is a shared desire to see a vast improvement on the current building and the surrounding public realm that will breathe new life into this part of the city centre.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here