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Aberdeen's Union Terrace Gardens competition - Winner announced
Author: Caroline Ednie
A team led by New York based Diller Scofidio + Renfro has won a design competition to develop Union Terrace Gardens in Aberdeen.
According to the competition organisers, Aberdeen City Garden Trust, the successful proposal by Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) in collaboration with local architects Keppie Design and landscape architects OLIN: "celebrates the three-dimensional aspects of Aberdeen, reinterpreting the topography of the Denburn Valley and the dramatic cascade of the existing Union Terrace Gardens while creating graceful new spaces and structures that contribute to a memorable and thrilling contemporary design."
The project, popularly known as the 'Granite Web', aims to provide additional usable garden space, a landmark cultural and arts centre, and promote the City’s historic streets, revealing the arches, vaults and bridge on Union Street and retaining the balustrades and statues which are part of Aberdeen’s legacy.
The Jury’s decision represents a breakthrough for DS+R giving them their first major European design competition win. DS+R Partner, Charles 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, the heart has little pulse…we feel that we can make that heart 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. We feel particularly well suited to this challenge – the project reflects an integration of landscape design, museum design and design for the performing arts, the primary focuses of our practice."
The Jury weighed information from a technical panel, face-to-face discussions with the respective teams, public and stakeholder feedback; the two finalists’ schemes being those most popular in a public exhibition held in the city in the autumn.
The winning design scored higher in all key areas of the brief including, creation of more new space, cost and viability in construction and on-going maintenance, environmental sustainability and energy efficiency.
Sir Duncan Rice, former Principal of Aberdeen University and Chair of the Jury 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."
The City Garden Project team has been working along with Aberdeen City
Council and consultants PWC to develop a solid business case for funding the project as part of the wider city centre regeneration scheme.
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.
All Images reproduced by kind courtesy of Malcolm Reading Consultants