Architects from throughout the world are already eyeing up the chance to transform the centre of Aberdeen through the City Garden Project.
More than 1,000 people – mainly from the UK, America and Italy – have visited the new website set up to launch the international design competition for the city’s Union Terrace Gardens.
The internet page, which went live on Tuesday, has also prompted interest from as far away as Syria, Hong Kong, Japan, Vietnam and Lebanon.
Aberdeen City Council, development body Acsef and philanthropist Sir Ian Wood want to create a “green and vibrant heart” for the city centre by raising the garden and covering over the Denburn dual carriageway and adjacent railway line.
The design contest, led by Malcolm Reading Consultants, will involve seven blueprints for the historic sunken gardens being drawn up over the summer.
Last night, Mr Reading said he believes the world’s top architects and landscape experts would all be interested in the “rare chance” to transform a city like Aberdeen.
“The opportunity to change a major European city is very unusual for an architect, and as a result we expect to get a lot of interest from all over the world – which can only be a benefit for Aberdeen,” he said.
“It is an interesting site because it has obviously grown rather haphazardly over the years.
“The park itself was created as a pleasure garden, but what you have now is a dual carriageway, a railway line and a number of busy roads surrounding the site.
“It could be a wonderful asset because there would not be much like this in any European cities – a space which is truly for visitors and citizens.
“Every project we do is unique and we tend to choose the ones which are more unusual, and that was why we were fascinated by this.”
Mr Reading expects around 150 teams to register an interest in the project before June 13, when the entries will be whittled down to seven for stage two of the competition.
Each team must include an urban designer, architect, structural, civil and services engineers, landscape architect and also a cost consultant.
The seven shortlisted teams will be briefed and asked to produce a concept design.
They will also have to prove they can deliver the project on time and on budget.
Their entries will be reviewed by a technical panel and a final jury will conduct interviews before a winner is announced in December.
Mr Reading said he was well aware of the controversy surrounding the project, but believed that when the people of the north-east saw the final designs they would see the benefits.
“This sort of project is very difficult to get people to believe in, but it is transformational,” he said.
“You can’t do something to a city without some controversy.
“What hasn’t been offered to people so far is a vision of what it could be. That’s what the competition is going to provide, so people can judge that.
“Our experience is that the competition brings people together. It can have a very powerful and positive effect on the outcome.”