A leading authority on architecture has raised fears that the cost of creating a new civic square in Aberdeen could spiral as uncontrollably as the final bill for the Scottish Parliament building.
Neil Baxter, secretary of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, suggested the final price tag for Sir Ian Wood’s proposed development at Union Terrace Gardens could “easily” be double its £140million budget.
In a letter to Scottish Enterprise, he alleged the government agency signalled an “inappropriate” desire for an architect from outside Scotland to win the design competition for the site.
Scottish Enterprise said the claim was unfounded.
Mr Baxter’s intervention came on the day a 10,000-signature petition against the scheme was handed in to the local authority by supporters of rival plans to build a Peacock Visual Arts centre in the sunken Victorian gardens.
Councillors will meet on Wednesday to decide whether to accept Sir Ian’s £50million pledge towards the project. Chief executive Sue Bruce and her top team are urging approval of it.
A feasibility study by architecture firm Halliday Fraser Munro said the street-level civic square could be built at a cost of between £120million and £140million.
But in a letter obtained by the P&J, Mr Baxter cast doubt on the assessment, warning the debacle over the Holyrood parliament ensued from a “risible” initial budget being set for the design contest.
“Considering that, in recent years, buildings of comparable scale in Aberdeen and elsewhere i on straightforward urban sites have cost twice the quoted budget figure for this particularly problematic and challenging site, we would be concerned about launching a competition based on such a questionable budget,” he said.
The budget for the parliament buildings in Edinburgh soared from £55million to £430million, and it was completed three years late.
Mr Baxter also said a Scottish Enterprise official told his deputy there was a desire the competition should be won by a known name from outside Scotland. He said the suggestion was “offensive” to indigenous talent.
Maggie McGinlay, regional director of Scottish Enterprise, said the agency was committed to following European procurement rules. “We are disappointed that Mr Baxter has interpreted this phone conversation in this way,” she said. “His concerns are unfounded and I will be contacting him to discuss them as a matter of urgency.
“This was simply an exploratory phone call, undertaken as part of initial research into the international competition idea, should the Union Terrace Gardens project get the go-ahead from Aberdeen City Council.”
Tom Smith, chairman of Aberdeen City and Shire Economic Future (Acsef), the development body spearheading the civic square plans, said: “The project has already attracted global attention from architects and engineering firms and we hope to build on that through a competition which would be open to all and certainly not preclude Scottish or UK architects.
A full design brief which takes the public’s views, the existing topography, heritage and architecture into consideration will be prepared if the project moves ahead.”