Construction work surges ahead in Scottish boom town

While many towns and cities across the UK are feeling the pinch from the credit crunch, Aberdeen has shown little sign of a construction slowdown and a number of large prestigious jobs are currently on-going with more in the pipeline.

The city’s largest project is Union Square, a predominantly steel framed retail scheme adjacent to Aberdeen’s port. Covering an area of 65,000m²^, Union Square consists of 56 retail units mostly housed within a covered two-level mall, 12 catering units, a 10 screen cinema complex, a multi-storey car park, a 203 room hotel and a new civic square.

The entire scheme is also integrated with Aberdeen’s transportation hubs, and the first phase of the project included renovating the railway station and building a new bus terminus.

Steelwork for the main phase (phase 2) is being undertaken by Severfield-Reeve Structures, working on behalf of main contractor Miller Construction.

Jim Hanna, Contracts Manager for Miller, said: “This scheme will create a new centre of gravity for Aberdeen and being close to ferry links to the Shetland and Orkney Islands, the retail centre’s catchment area will be huge.”