Description

Early 19th century. 3-storey and attic Classical tenement with shops to ground. Grey granite ashlar, with some raised cill margins, channelled to ground, rubble to rear. Round-arched openings to ground. Impost course, band course between ground and 1st storey. Central entrance door to flats with flanking pair of symmetrical shops.

Predominantly 12-pane timber sash and case windows to upper storeys. Plate glass and multi-pane glazing pattern to ground windows with fanlight glazing detail. Grey slate, gable stacks, raised skews.

Statement of Interest

This tenement building with its restrained, Classical style forms an essential component of the planned streetscape of King Street. The classical style was to dominate the planned early nineteenth century city of Aberdeen. This is a particularly good example as the round arched openings to the ground floor have been retained, giving a clear indication of the original appearance of this part of the street. The bold town planning which created Union Street and King Street was the defining gesture which allowed Aberdeen to develop from an contained medieval burgh to a modern rational 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 higher end blocks. This design was begun on the East side in 1805, with the creation of nos 8-10 (see separate listing). 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. It was then decided to allow some variations between designs, whilst keeping to the essential classical style. The result is a street which shows the character of diversity within uniformity.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17775351

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.

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