An expert task force has been assembled to help bring the upper floors of Union Street back to vibrant life and create a “living and liveable neighbourhood community” in the heart of the Granite City.
The team brings together council specialists in planning and building standards with architects, developers and commercial letting agents to find new and innovative uses for unused or unused premises above the ground floor level of the Granite Mile.
The technical panel will be tasked with identifying and helping to remove barriers to making the most of the upper floors with uses ranging from residential to retail, hospitality to health and well-being, plus education, arts and culture and office all in the possible mix.
The Upper Floors Project is being driven by Aberdeen Inspired with support from Aberdeen City Council (ACC) and the wider city centre business community and stakeholders.
It is being hailed as a potential exemplar for other cities and towns to follow in regenerating their centres.
Adrian Watson, chief executive of Aberdeen Inspired, said the creation of the technical panel of experts is a huge milestone for the campaign to make best use of often neglected upper floors in a bid to attract more people and businesses into the city centre.
He said: “If you look at the many exciting possibilities for these spaces you will see a fantastic mix of homes, shops, hospitality, arts, offices and health services – all the things you need to create a viable and attractive community. That can only help the heart of Aberdeen beat as strongly as it ever has.
“No one is underestimating the challenges here, but we now have a panel of outstanding experts from different fields, all working together to find tangible and realistic advice and guidance for owners to make the best use of Union Street’s upper floors.”
The panel follows on from a feasibility study of the upper floors commissioned by Aberdeen Inspired with £15,000 in funding from Aberdeen City Council. The new team will be led by town and city centres specialist Iain Nicholson, founder of The Vacant Shops Academy who carried out the study.
Iain said: “The panel has a key role in bringing together practical public and private sector expertise to assess potential barriers to getting un- and under-used upper floor spaces back into use and working out potential solutions.
“The idea is that one-by-one the panel will visit each of the currently empty and available upper floors spaces on Union Street and run through the barriers and solutions process so would-be occupiers will have a much clearer perspective on what is possible.
“The ambition is that by focusing on the challenges that are contributing to keeping them empty, this project will create a comprehensive strategy to help in getting as much of this wasted space back into use as possible.”
Iain said the panel will also advise the place partners to the initiative – Aberdeen Inspired, Aberdeen City Council, Our Union Street and others - on policies, regulations and projects that may be needed to help overcome the barriers, such as funding and lobbying.
He added the Upper Floors Project would sit alongside the current drive to fill empty units at ground floor level on Union Street being championed by Our Union Street and the city council.
“Aberdeen is already a national beacon for its place partnership work to tackle vacancy on Union Street and the significant reductions it’s made in empty unit numbers,” said Iain.
“Extending that to a proactive, working together approach to getting un- and under-used upper floors back into play is a next step that can have many benefits for the city in terms of its economy, variety of uses, resilience and sustainability.
“It’s also something that many other places are watching closely as this is a significant issue for town and city centres around the country, so understanding the barriers to re-purposing and re-using these spaces and the role that each stakeholder can play will be very valuable learning.”
Aberdeen City Council Co-Leader Councillor Ian Yuill said: “Aberdeen City Council is committed to fostering a vibrant city centre environment for residents and visitors alike. It is vital to encourage business, retail, and cultural activities in the area so that more people will want to visit and stay longer. The £150million investment in city centre projects, including the new market building, is welcome support for the local economy.
“Further initiatives and actions should continue in order to improve the city centre experience. The upper floors project will help to bring more people into the area who will in turn buy services and products from businesses. This is a positive example of partnership working.”
Aberdeen City Council Co-Leader Councillor Christian Allard said: “Aberdeen City Council is delivering significant regeneration to our city centre and transformational investment at our beachfront – the biggest the city has seen in 200 years – to ensure our city continues to be somewhere people want to live, work, visit or invest.
“Along with the new infrastructure, we are also investing in several initiatives to help businesses such as Freebie Fortnight and the Business Toolkit which complement the aims of the upper floors project.”
The expert members of the technical panel include:
- Iain Nicholson (The Vacant Shops Academy)
- Ross Grant (Aberdeen Inspired)
- Shona Boyd (Shepherd Chartered Surveyors)
- Neil Rothnie (Create Studio Architecture) – Architectural Consultant
- Chris Smith (Davidson Smith Architects)
- Richard Tinto (Tinto Architecture)
- David White (Our Union Street)
- Sepideh Hajisoltani (ACC Conservation)
- Alex Ferguson (ACC Development Management)
- Gavin Whyte (ACC Building Standards)
- Steve Choi (CATER Group)
- Hamish Munro (Standard Real Estate)
Shona Boyd, of Shepherd Chartered Surveyors, said she was more than happy to lend her time when the opportunity arose to join the practitioner panel studying the upper floors of Union Street.
“There has been positive momentum regarding tackling vacancy on ground floor level, but the approach to city centre regeneration must involve a holistic approach to all underutilised and vacant space, which includes the upper floors,” said Shona.
“At present, upper floors are predominantly ancillary storage space for retail premises, or office accommodation, both of which there is not a great deal of user demand for. There is discussion around residential use, and this feels like the direction required to create a more vibrant city centre. That said there are barriers to overcome for any strategy being developed and implemented.
“City centre regeneration is about re-purposing and re-imagining our built environment, so I am looking forward to engaging with other professionals to think more closely about how our city centre is evolving with a continued focus on unused space.”
The panel will be visiting the upper floor spaces in the coming months, before deciding how best to communicate their findings to owners and stakeholders.