Description

John Smith, 1828 (see Notes). 3-storey and attic 6-bay Classical tenement building with commercial premises to ground situated on corner site. Grey granite ashlar, channelled to ground at nos 133-139. Band course above ground floor. Nos 133-139 with segmental arched openings to ground, round-arched openings to Nos 139-141. 6-panel timber entrance doors with narrow pilastered jambs and fanlights above. Blind upper storey windows to S elevation (Mealmarket Street). Piended dormers.

Predominantly 12-pane timber sash and case windows to Nos 139-141. Variety of fenestration to other Nos including tilt and turn and top opening windows. Grey slate. Gable stacks.

Statement of Interest

Positioned at a corner site and with simple Classical detailing, this building forms an integral part of the planned streetscape of King Street. The segmental and round-arched window details to the ground floor are a particular characteristic of this part of Aberdeen. The classical style was to dominate the planned early nineteenth century city of Aberdeen. The bold town planning which created Union Street and King Street was the defining gesture which allowed Aberdeen to develop from a contained medieval burgh to a modern rational classical city.

King Street developed after 1794, when a town council meeting asked the engineer Charles Abercrombie to find a way to connect the original steep, muddled Medieval streets of Aberdeen to the surrounding countryside. His plan was for two streets, one of which would run from Castlegate to the Denburn and the other which would run from the Castlegate to the North of the town. The latter was King Street. A competition for designs for this new street brought forward a design from Thomas Fletcher. This was to be a long classical façade, with a pedimented centrepiece and this design was begun on the East side in 1805. The idea of a standard, uniform terrace, however, was abandoned when negotiations had to be entered into with owners regarding the length of the frontages and the heights of the buildings. The West side, was to have followed a similar, uniform design, but again, this was abandoned. The buildings, however, often retain a uniform height, but with small variants, as seen here in the ground floor window design.

John Smith (1781-1852), a native of Aberdeen, established himself in architectural practice in the city in 1804. He became the Master of Work in 1824 and designed many of Aberdeen's public buildings, showing an expertise in working with granite. With Archibald Simpson, (1790-1847), he was one of the major architects involved in designing the expanding nineteenth century city of Aberdeen. His other works include the Aberdeen Arts Centre and St Clement's East Church (see separate listings).

Reference form previous list description; Aberdeen Journal, May 22nd, 1833.

Category changed from B to C(S), 2007.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q56625042

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version