A former bank and disused university building both given a new lease of life as bustling social spots have been named winners of the Aberdeen Civic Society’s 2018 awards.
The Sandman Signature Aberdeen hotel on St Andrew Street and Cognito on the Corner on Mid Stocket Road have won the awards, which are given out by the organisation to celebrate not just beautiful architecture, but positive contributions to civic life.
Previous recipients of the recognition include the Nuart street art team last year, North East Scotland College for their re-cladding project in 2016 and the Sir Duncan Rice library at Aberdeen University.
A statement from the society commended the project to turn the old RGU site on St Andrew Street into a hotel for “the way the work has been done to convert the building into a hotel without very many changes”, and for keeping its existing granite.
The society said Cognito on the Corner was “a clever conversion of a former bank building into a delightful caf and bistro, serving the community of Rosemount and beyond.”
Last night, society chairman Dominic Fairlie said: “It gives us great pleasure to be supporting two projects this year, both of which involve the re-use of some of Aberdeen’s lovely granite heritage.
“We give awards for projects that improve or add to our built environment and increase street activity and there is no doubt that both make a significant contribution in this regard.”
Nicky Turnbull, owner of Cognito on the Corner, said he was thrilled their efforts to maintain the old Bank of Scotland building’s character had been recognised.
He said: “We tried to stay true to the heritage of the building, taking it right back to how it would have looked in the 1990s – bespoke curved hardwood windows, a modern twist including tri-fold windows, hand-made by quality local tradesmen to make the building really spectacular.”
Murray Todd, general manager of the Sandman Signature hotel said; “It’s great to be recognised for the hard work and efforts that have been made in retaining these aspects that make the building so iconic and distinctive.”
