Aberdeen Market

Aberdeen Market was a historic indoor market and later shopping centre on Market Street in central Aberdeen, Scotland. Its origins reached back to 29 April 1842, when the first indoor market on the site opened. That building was destroyed by fire exactly four decades later and was subsequently rebuilt. The rebuilt market remained in use until it was demolished in 1971, after which a new market building was constructed and opened on 6 November 1974 by William McEwan Younger. The modern Aberdeen Market provided a covered retail environment containing a mixture of independent traders, food businesses and other small commercial operators. It functioned as part of Aberdeen city centre’s shopping and leisure offer rather than as a conventional national retail chain. Tenants included a variety of independent retailers and food outlets; after the centre closed, some businesses relocated elsewhere in the city. Examples included the Thai restaurant Madame Mews, the DIY retailer Nickel and Dime, and the LGBT+ charity Four Pillars. The building also became associated with public art. In 2017, the curved external face of the market was painted with a large mural by the artist duo Herakut as part of Aberdeen’s NuArt Festival. The mural became a visible feature of the city-centre streetscape. In 2018, Rockspring, the owner of the market building and the adjacent former British Home Stores unit, submitted proposals to reclad the existing structure and increase the number of windows. Those plans raised concerns about the possible loss of the recent mural. The cladding proposals did not proceed, and a later proposal in the same year contemplated demolishing the market and replacing it with a new development. The market closed in March 2020 during the United Kingdom’s COVID-19 lockdown, when non-essential shops were required to shut. On 11 June 2020, Aberdeen Market Village, the building’s operating company, entered liquidation. In the following year, Aberdeen City Council acquired the market building and the connected former British Home Stores premises. The acquisition formed part of a wider regeneration strategy for the site. Redevelopment proposals published in May 2021 envisaged demolishing the existing market and former BHS building and creating a replacement destination with a partly open-air layout, retail space, food and drink, and leisure uses. The proposed redevelopment attracted criticism from the local branch of the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland, which raised concerns about the environmental consequences of demolishing an existing building and constructing a replacement. In October 2021, the UK Government announced a £20 million contribution toward a redevelopment estimated at £75 million. Demolition was under way by March 2022, and demolition of the building’s curved mural-bearing wall began on 22 March 2022. The original market therefore survives primarily as a historical and redevelopment reference rather than as an operating retail venue. Its history reflects the changing form of Aberdeen city-centre commerce: from a nineteenth-century covered market, through a 1970s shopping-centre building, to a closed and demolished property incorporated into a publicly backed urban-regeneration project.

The Aberdeen Market site has been used for indoor commerce since the nineteenth century. The first indoor market on the location opened on 29 April 1842, creating a covered setting for trading in central Aberdeen. Exactly forty years later, the building was destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt, preserving the site’s role as a market, but that successor was eventually demolished in 1971. A new building opened on 6 November 1974. The modern structure operated as a covered shopping centre and market, accommodating independent retailers, food outlets and other small businesses. Its tenants gave the centre a distinctly mixed and local commercial character. The adjoining British Home Stores premises formed part of the wider retail complex, although that store closed in August 2016 after the collapse of the BHS chain. The market’s external appearance became notable for a large mural created by Herakut in 2017 during the NuArt Festival. The artwork covered the building’s curved face and became a prominent piece of public art in the city centre. Its future became an issue when the property owner, Rockspring, proposed recladding the building and adding more windows in 2018. Although those works did not proceed, a later proposal that year envisaged demolition and replacement of the market building. The centre ceased trading in March 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown. On 11 June 2020, Aberdeen Market Village, the building’s operator, went into liquidation. Some former occupants subsequently moved to other locations in Aberdeen, including Madame Mews, Nickel and Dime, and Four Pillars. In 2021, Aberdeen City Council moved toward public ownership of the market building and adjacent former BHS unit. A May proposal described a replacement scheme with a partially open-air layout and a combination of retail, food and drink, and leisure uses. The Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland’s Aberdeen branch criticised the demolition approach, particularly its environmental implications. In October 2021, the UK Government announced £20 million toward the redevelopment, reported at the time as having an estimated total cost of £75 million. Demolition was under way by March 2022, including the removal of the curved wall on 22 March. The closure and demolition ended the market’s operation as a twentieth-century shopping centre, while the site remained part of a broader effort to regenerate Aberdeen city centre.

• 2022

  Demolition begins

  [1]Aberdeen Marketen.wikipedia.org

  Demolition is under way by March, with removal of the mural-bearing curved wall beginning on 22 March.

• 2021

  Council ownership and replacement plans

  [1]Aberdeen Marketen.wikipedia.org

  Aberdeen City Council purchases the site and publishes plans for a replacement retail, food, drink and leisure destination.

• 2020

  Market closes and operator enters liquidation

  [1]Aberdeen Marketen.wikipedia.org

  The centre closes during the March COVID-19 lockdown, and Aberdeen Market Village enters liquidation on 11 June.

• 2017

  NuArt mural is created

  [1]Aberdeen Marketen.wikipedia.org

  Herakut paints a large mural on the building’s curved exterior as part of the NuArt Festival.

• 1974

  Modern market building opens

  [1]Aberdeen Marketen.wikipedia.org

  The latest market building opens on 6 November, inaugurated by William McEwan Younger.

• 1971

  Second market building demolished

  [1]Aberdeen Marketen.wikipedia.org

  The rebuilt market structure is demolished ahead of construction of the later shopping-centre building.

• 1882

  Market destroyed by fire

  [1]Aberdeen Marketen.wikipedia.org

  The first market building is destroyed by fire forty years after its opening.

• 1842

  First indoor market opens

  [1]Aberdeen Marketen.wikipedia.org

  An indoor market opens on the Market Street site on 29 April, establishing the location’s long-running commercial use.

A city-centre covered market and shopping destination focused on independent traders, food businesses, retail and local urban activity.

• Retail space · 1842

  Indoor market and independent retail units

  The principal offering was a covered city-centre environment divided among independent retailers and small commercial operators. The centre’s tenant mix changed over time and included local shops, food businesses and service-oriented occupants rather than a single standardized retail proposition.

• Food and beverage

  Food and drink units

  Food and drink businesses formed part of the market’s mixed-use offer. The centre was associated with independent operators, including the Thai restaurant Madame Mews, which later moved to another location after the market closed.

• Leisure and services

  City-centre leisure and service space

  Alongside retail and food trading, the market accommodated service and community-oriented uses. Former occupants included Four Pillars, an LGBT+ charity, illustrating the broader range of organizations that used units within or associated with the centre.

• 2017NuArt Festival mural

  Aberdeen · United Kingdom

  Herakut created a large mural on Aberdeen Market’s curved exterior as part of the NuArt Festival, adding a prominent public-art element to the building.

  Outcome. The mural became a recognizable feature of the building but was later threatened by redevelopment and was removed when the curved wall was demolished.

  Source

• 2022

  Demolition of the market buildingOther

  Background

  The former market had been closed since the 2020 lockdown, and replacement development was planned for the site.

  Action taken

  Demolition work began, including removal of the curved exterior wall carrying the Herakut mural on 22 March.

  Aftermath

  The twentieth-century market building ceased to exist as a functioning retail venue, clearing the site for the proposed redevelopment.

  Source

• 2021

  Council-backed replacement market planStrategy

  Background

  Following the market operator’s liquidation and the centre’s closure, Aberdeen City Council pursued ownership of the market and connected former BHS site.

  Action taken

  Plans proposed demolition of the existing buildings and construction of a partly open-air destination for retail, food and drink, and leisure.

  Aftermath

  The scheme received UK Government support, while heritage representatives criticised the environmental impact of demolishing and replacing the existing building.

  Redevelopment funding and estimated total cost. £20 million UK Government contribution toward an estimated £75 million redevelopment (October 2021)

  Source

• 2018

  Proposal to reclad and alter the existing buildingStrategy

  Background

  Rockspring, then associated with ownership of the market and adjacent former BHS premises, sought permission to reclad the existing building and increase the number of windows.

  Action taken

  A planning application was submitted, but the proposed works did not proceed.

  Aftermath

  Concerns focused partly on the possible loss of the Herakut mural installed the previous year. A later 2018 proposal shifted toward demolition and replacement.

  Source

1. 1Aberdeen Marketen.wikipedia.org