Architects chosen by Aberdeenshire Council to transform the heart of a north-east town have defended their designs.
Proposals to convert Fraserburgh Town House and the port’s former police station won planning permission earlier this year despite outcry from local councillors and residents who branded the designs as an “eyesore”.
The local authority hopes to restore the listed buildings into a welcoming front-of-house for council services and open it up to the wider community who will be able to use it to host business and public meetings.
But councillors Hamish Partridge and Ian Tait have blasted the project.
Mr Partridge claims the money could be “better spent” on other projects across the town, while Mr Tait has said the design – erecting rusted steel cladding to form a rain screen at the rear of the buildings – would create a “scar” on the face of the port.
Last night architect behind the project Ben Addy, who established Moxon Architects in 2004, has now defended the scheme.
“The extension will efficiently and sensitively link both properties to provide a welcoming and elegant public face for the council,” he said.
“The robust design is conceived as a largely permeable structure set against the massive construction typology of the existing historic buildings.”
Council area manager Margaret-Jane Cardno has also defended the project, part of a wider effort to regenerate Fraserburgh’s town centre over the next five years.
“No representations were received to the planning application, though it is recognised the design is bold, as it was intended to be,” she said.
“The correct process has been followed to reach this point, where substantial funding is in place, plans are approved and work is due to start.
“Any suggestion that this money could have been used for an alternative project other than a historical asset is simply wrong and this facility is intended to benefit the whole community.”
Moxon say its designs will be “invisible” from the front of the building.
“Externally, landscaping of the public realm on North Braehead will significantly improve this neglected part of the town to provide an attractive route from the civic centre to the busy port,” a spokeswoman added.
