Union Terrace Gardens, Aberdeen

2025 RIAS Award

Public
Stallan-Brand Architecture + Design and LDA Design for Aberdeen City Council
Contract value: Confidential
GIA: 1,310m²

This exemplary transformation of a long-neglected civic space reclaims Union Terrace Gardens as Aberdeen’s green heart. Combining sensitive conservation with elegant new architecture and landscape design, the project skilfully addresses past challenges and responds to its complex topography, layered heritage and social context.

The jury was particularly impressed by the collaborative design process – a partnership between architect Stallan-Brand and landscape architect and urban designer LDA Design, shaped by extensive community consultation and engagement. This collective approach helped restore trust and ensured the result was grounded in local needs and aspirations.

The addition of three refined, lantern-like pavilions – accommodating a café, restaurant and wine bar – reactivates the gardens’ edges and creates a safe, inviting space. Their simple forms and restrained material palette of precast concrete, glass and metal allow the buildings to sit comfortably within the sensitive context. Echoing the lines of the historical tram route, they are both a subtle nod to the past and a bold step forward.

The project also delivers extensive landscape and engineering work: 43,000 plants, new play spaces, rebuilt granite steps and a fully accessible aerial walkway connecting upper and lower levels with grace and ease. Conservation work includes the restoration of statues, railings, arcade arches and even the subterranean Victorian toilets – now proudly reinstated and open to the public.

Internally, the pavilions are equally thoughtful – modestly scaled, filled with light, and carefully detailed to feel welcoming and civic. The warmth of natural materials and the integration of artwork and signage add to their approachable atmosphere.

The entire project reflects a considered response to the city’s granite architecture and a respect for the original Victorian layout. Union Terrace Gardens is now once again a civic gathering place – safe, green, accessible and beautiful. A benchmark in public-realm regeneration, it demonstrates the power of sensitive, people-centred design to transform a city’s sense of place.

View all of our RIAS Scotland winners here, and all our RIBA UK Award winners here.

View the full RIBA UK Awards 2025 process.