Two road closures next month as work progresses at Marischal Square development

28 July 2016

Road closures are to take place next month as work progresses at the £107million Marischal Square development in Aberdeen city centre.

The closures to Upperkirkgate are to allow both utility connections and tower crane removal works, and they are timed to coincide with the Summer school holidays to reduce the impact to motorists.

The Marischal Square project includes 14,500 sq ft of civic space in front of Provost Skene's House, a mixture of granite and glass in the elevations, 175,000 sq ft of Grade ‘A’ office space, 26,600 sq ft of ground floor bar and restaurant space, and a 126-bed four-star hotel.

It is being delivered by Muse Developments which was appointed by site landowner Aberdeen City Council.

The development, which is creating 300 construction jobs with the potential for 1,500 jobs in the completed development and will also deliver an economic boost to the immediate area from enhanced footfall and more people working and using leisure facilities, started construction work in April 2015 and is on schedule for completion in July 2017.

Aberdeen City Council has been working closely with the main contractors Morgan Sindall over the last year to ensure that disruption from the construction works on-going within the Marischal Square development have been minimised as much as practically possible.

Aberdeen City Council Deputy Leader Marie Boulton said: “Marischal Square is progressing at a good rate and you can see how it complements other developments in the area and also be a catalyst for more nearby.

“The roadworks are necessary at this stage of the development and have been carefully planned to reduce the amount of disruption to motorists.

“We look forward to works continuing and the buildings being finished with the huge boost Marischal Square will bring for this part of the city centre.”

Muse Developments Regional Director, Scotland, Stephen Turner said:: “Marischal Square is going make a long-term positive impact on the local economy and it is extremely encouraging that major organisations like Aberdeen Journals, Marriott and the All Bar One Group have already bought into a vision shared by our development partners at Aberdeen City Council and Aviva Investors.

“We are making excellent progress on site and our commercial property teams are talking to businesses both in the city and across the UK about the significant opportunities the development will deliver when it is completed a year from now.”

The forthcoming works will be phased to with both the utility and crane dismantling works running one after each other, in order to minimise the number of road closures required.

The dates of the closures, which includes provisional dates for Broad Street, are:

Closure of Upperkirkgate, 25 July until the 2 August - works involve a sewer connection across Upperkirkgate into the development (25 to 31 July), followed by the removal of Tower Crane 2 on the 1 and 2 August; Closure of Upperkirkgate, on 14 August - road closed to facilitate the removal of Tower crane 1. Due to the schools returning on Tuesday 15 August, extended hours have been agreed with the contractor and ACC’s Environmental Health service;

There will also be closures in October and more details of these will be forthcoming when they are finalised.

Aberdeen City Council will continue to work closely with both the Bon Accord and St Nicholas Centres, along with the developments at both the former E&M’s store and City Bar, to ensure that access for deliveries are maintained throughout the current and upcoming works.

There are additional closures on Flourmill Lane during the works and these are being co-ordinated with the St Nicholas Centre in order to ensure that access is maintained from either Union Street (via St Catherine’s Wynd) or Upperkirkgate.

An update will be given once the proposed dates for Broad Street are finalised.