Aberdeen City Centre and Beach Master Plan Update

6 March 2026

Project Works – Union Street Central

Steady progress was made across the site during February and that will continue throughout March. During the works the site team continue to uncover structural issues relating to basements which can only be identified once the old road and paving surface has been removed.

On the east section of the north footway, the full replacement of paving from the former RBS building at78 Union Street to the Correction Wynd stairs was completed. On the central north footway, the St Nicholas Kirk has allowed us to excavate the full footway in front of the church grounds, which will allow us to replace that section in one co-ordinated operation. On the central south footway, new paving slabs were installed from the Back Wynd stairs to Primark, which also allowed new utility power connections to buildings to be installed at the same time.

A construction tent has also been used on the main carriageway to allow the new locally produced granite setts to continue to be laid during cold and wet weather. Several overnight works were also carried out to allow daytime access to businesses to continue and maintain safe pedestrian movement.

These works will continue throughout March with the final remedial works outside the Black Sheep coffee shop completed and a new events pillar installed near the entrance to the new Market.

Along the east section of the north footway, the construction of the new cycleway will continue between the former RBS building and iCrack. Work will also begin on the new floating bust stop island outside the former RBS building.

The central north footway in front of St Nicholas Kirk is expected to be completed and reopened to pedestrians while the paving on the central south footway will progress from Primark towards the Trinity Centre.

These works will be delivered in a phased sequence to maintain business hours access to premises and will require a doorway-to-doorway approach. Additional out-of-hours of work will be applied for to avoid daytime disruption in one of the busiest areas of the city centre.

Towards the end of March, it is anticipated that works will begin on the Union Bridge section and details of those works will be made public as soon as they are confirmed.

Project Works – Market

Progress on the new market building has continued at pace and a landmark in February was the installation of the striking glass façade to the front of the former British Home Stores building on Union Street, which will be one of the main entrances.

The roof installation approached full enclosure of the building with joinery and masonry work continuing across the site along with mechanical and electrical installations at the Green level.

Inside the new building, work began on installing the ‘bird cage’ scaffolding, which will support upcoming high-level tasks. This installation should be completed during March, which will allow the installation of high-level services within the roof space and internal roof painting.

The site team will also begin installing slab insulation in the service areas of the new building while work in the East Green section is expected to reach completion, including the new concrete foundation for the historic market arch.

Project Works – Beach 

The steel frame for the eight-storey play tower has been installed and steel installation work is progressing on the adjoining play sections.

The amphitheatre steps are nearing completion and landscaping works are well progressed across the site with the layout of the beach park clearly defined.

Internal work on the new buildings across the site are progressing well and other items of play equipment are being installed.

Work will begin shortly in relocating the site offices from their current location on the events field to the former beach leisure centre site where final demolition is almost completed. This will allow works on the event field to be progressed towards completion.

Project Works – Castlegate

The main construction work on the Castlegate is due to begin on Monday 16 March. Ahead of that there will be some initial works by utility service providers on their underground assets.

The Castlegate works will take place in phases and phase 1 will focus on the central area of the site with the installation of new drainage and ducting, followed by the installation of granite setts and stone slabs.

Pedestrian access will be maintained with walkways to the north and south of the square and access will always be maintained to businesses and premises on the Castlegate.

The main contractor for the Castlegate are Morrison Construction and anyone with any questions or enquiries can contact the site team on streetscape-market@morrisonconstruction.co.uk .