Union Terrace Gardens

Union Terrace Gardens is a landmark Aberdeen City Council project. Ringed by some of the City’s finest architecture, and dating back to 1878, UTG is Aberdeen’s most important green space. At times, the Gardens have been a magnet for anti- social behaviour. Dwindling footfall has affected the vibrancy of the surrounding area, which is home to shops and businesses. Improvement plans have been proposed but failed to find universal support.

The council’s ambition is to create a central hub for events, new small- scale commercial activity, horticulture, art and technology within a historic park setting. Success rests on improving accessibility and connectivity to the City. Restoration will create a lively cultural quarter, making the Gardens a destination once more. As the high- profile pilot project within a transformational City Centre Masterplan, UTG is seen as a catalyst for wider regeneration, integral to another 50 projects identified within the Plan. LDA Design’s proposals focus on restoring the Victorian Gardens to create a relevant, contemporary park for Aberdeen - a green heart for the ‘granite city’ that strengthens the connection between people and place.

Describe the context and brief for this place?

Ringed by some of the City’s finest architecture, and dating back to 1878, UTG is Aberdeen’s most important green space. At times, the Gardens have been a magnet for anti- social behaviour. Dwindling footfall has affected the vibrancy of the surrounding area, which is home to shops and businesses. Improvement plans have been proposed but failed to find universal support.

The council’s ambition is to create a central hub for events, new small- scale commercial activity, horticulture, art and technology within a historic park setting. Success rests on improving accessibility and connectivity to the City. Restoration will create a lively cultural quarter, making the Gardens a destination once more. As the high-profile pilot project within a transformational City Centre Masterplan, UTG is seen as a catalyst for wider regeneration, integral to another 50 projects identified within the Plan.

The brief builds upon principles set out in the Aberdeen City Centre Masterplan and Delivery Programme, and includes:

- Creation of new and improved facilities: including play, community growing, education, toilet provision, F&B

- Celebrating the existing heritage: repairing and reinstating key heritage features

- Creation of flexible community events spaces

- Creation of accessible gardens for all: introducing new, fully accessible routes into the Gardens

- Creation of a safe and active space: providing new facilities to increase activity and improve safety

- Creation of a preserved and enhanced green space: including retention of valued existing trees and new biodiverse-rich planting

Describe your design for this place and how it will contribute to urban life?

LDA Design’s proposals focus on restoring the Victorian Gardens to create a relevant, contemporary park for Aberdeen - a green heart for the ‘granite city’ that strengthens the connection between people and place. The plans create an equitable space that will benefit all citizens and visitors to Aberdeen. The proposals balance respecting and enhancing the existing natural assets with making the space more usable, enjoyable and accessible. The Chair of the Disability Equality Partnership described the plans as “one of the very best examples of inclusive design I have ever seen”, making the Gardens an experience for everyone, regardless of physical ability.

New facilities and lighting will ensure the Gardens are safer. Features include a series of new formal and informal play areas; an arboretum garden walk for learning, play and leisure including sculpture and lighting installations; and a community garden space. The new designs balance restoration with contemporary interventions and new uses. Three new buildings will sit alongside existing Grade A listed heritage features, creating new business opportunities for a thriving day to evening economy. These moves include a new café kiosk; transformation of Grade A listed Victorian toilets into new bar and restaurant space; the refurbishment of the Garden’s arches as gallery and exhibition space; and the reinstatement of UTG’s ‘grand staircase’. These new commercial and cultural uses will draw in residents and visitors, bringing associated benefits to local businesses, increasing tourism, contributing to land and property values and attracting further inward investment.

What was your process in coming up with the design? What research, consultation, workshops or conversations did you undertake?

Plans for the Gardens have been subject to intense public scrutiny. LDA Design turned this interest, which at times has been negative, into a positive force for change, tapping into the collective imagination to inform the design and building a groundswell of support. To raise awareness of the project, thousands of ‘instagrams from the future’ cards were distributed around the city. Working with public art and engagement specialists, Nadfly, we then used a high-impact ‘act of reclamation’ to launch the design strategy. Two hundred brightly coloured flags, carrying illustrations from UTG, were placed throughout the Gardens to be claimed by delighted visitors.

Hands-on planning workshops; one-to-one design meetings; a 10-day Winter Festival public exhibition; and an online survey, which collected more than 1,400 responses, followed. In each instance, the design team tailored its approach to enable different stakeholders to engage in a meaningful way with key design interventions. LDA Design’s proposals received strong public support, including 95% for accessibility. The council unanimously approved the detailed planning application, describing the plans as “a vision shaped by the people”. An Aberdeen City Council spokesperson stated “Progressing a new design meant persuading people their voice mattered. That LDA Design chose first to listen to key stakeholders to gain an understanding of the issues typified their empathetic approach, one that carried into the design itself. The very high approval rating for the emergent design reflected the very high level of engagement with disparate groups.”

How does your design respond to future changes in demographics, transport and the climate emergency to create a resilient place?

As a pilot project within the wider City Centre Masterplan strategy, UTG aims to “energise the city centre to deliver prosperity and better quality of life for all.” This includes tackling a range of environmental issues from improvements to air quality to walkability. Creating a more equitable place was a key driver, along with improving health and wellbeing and addressing social isolation. To achieve designs that work for all ages and abilities, a range of more accessible routes into the Gardens were developed in close consultation with leading disability groups.

The Gardens form part of a city-wide walking and cycling network, providing shared cycle and pedestrian routes that are generous in width, well signposted, overlooked and reflect desire lines to other key city centre destinations. The proposals include improved junction safety and adding cycle parking, water fountains and a bike repair station to promote sustainable transport choices. The Gardens also play a key part in contributing environmental benefits to the wider urban context, improving the quality of green infrastructure within the city as a whole. Improved biodiversity and flood defence provide greater climate resilience. Three new proposed buildings will feature sedum-planted green roofs and rainwater harvesting. Sustainable urban drainage will manage surface water run-off. The planting scheme builds in bio-resilience, including diverse species in order to withstand future disease. LED lighting reduces energy use and specialist soil improvement techniques boost carbon capture to improve air quality and reduce the impact of emissions within the city centre.