Aberdeen Building Award
SMC Parr Architects' new Marine Operations Centre at Aberdeen Harbour has won this year's only Aberdeen Civic Society Award. 051006

Parr Architects are one of the four scottish practices bought up by SMC in the last week catapulting the SMC Group to being Scotland's largest architects

Aberdeen Harbour Masters' Tower

photos from 2006 © Adrian Welch

Marine Operations Centre Aberdeen - SMC Parr Architects 2006:

SMC Parr Architects’ new Marine Operations Centre at Aberdeen Harbour, which opened its doors last month, has already been given recognition for the quality of its’ design - a prestigious Award from the Aberdeen Civic Society, presented at a ceremony last night. The new Centre was the only project to receive a full Award from the Civic Society this year.
The new state-of-the-art building will control all vessel movements into and out of the busy harbour, and succeeds the old Navigation Control Centre known locally as “The Roundhouse”, built in 1803.
The Marine Operations Centre sits on a prominent site, within the Footdee Conservation Area, where the North Pier meets the main land mass. The design concept was the interaction of two interlocking forms; solid and light. The solid element - built from precast concrete with pure white aggregate as a metaphor of a lighthouse - contains the stair, lift and toilet core. The light element, containing the main accommodation spaces, has facetted glazing around its perimeter which provides reflections of the setting of the building. The ground floor area has been kept to a minimum to lighten the connection between the building and the surrounding landscape.
The Centre is organised around a strict set of operational criteria in terms of security, visibility and interior comfort. A further key requirement was to consider environmental factors – a mixed mode ventilation/cooling system utilises displacement ventilation for the main floorplates, with the solid core used as a thermal mass and vertical ventilation stack.

Aberdeen Harbour Marine Operations Centre - Facts:
Main Contractor: Sir Robert McAlpine
Length of Contract: One year
Value: £3.7m



Aberdeen Buildings

Scottish Architecture

Marischal College

Aberdeen City Centre Regeneration



World Architecture : e-architect - a guide to key buildings across the globe

Marine Operations Centre Aberdeen - Building PR from SMC Parr Architects 051006

Aberdeen Hotel

Comments or building suggestions / photos for the Aberdeen Harbour page
welcome: info@e-architect.co.uk

Aberdeen Harbour Building - page : adrian welch / isabelle lomholt