Union Galleries

This Project is located at a gap site spanning between Union Street and Justice Mill Lane, Aberdeen. It serves as an architectural art gallery with temporary exhibitions featuring Lucien Herve (an architectural photographer with whom the design of this project is inspired).

The building consists of three sections, each with their purpose towards the gallery’s operation, connected by a long ground floor that unites the two roads. This project makes effective use of large spaces integrated with dramatic use of natural light and an open courtyard roof that allows a view level with the city's lower skyline.

This project, tied with semester one’s task (revitalisation of Bon Accord Terrace Gardens), effectively unites the two and revitalises the Bon Accord Area with a modern appeal within a relatively older industrial aesthetic.

Lucien Hervé (1910–2007) was a French photographer known for his influential architectural photography, notably his collaboration with architect Le Corbusier.

His work, spanning over two decades, captured iconic modernist buildings, emphasizing light, shadow, and geometric elements. Hervé's unique approach defined modern architectural photography, extending beyond his collaboration with Le Corbusier to encompass a diverse body of artistic and abstract work.

The art gallery is designed with multi-layered exhibition spaces at its centre, with a dynamic lightwell that will move across as the day progresses. In addition, the galleries are fitted with cafes, lounge areas, gardens, art studios and private offices/ conference areas to be hired out.

Circulation runs along a linear route across the southern section of the site and opens the entire building vertically with a flooded lightwell to appear in an external environment. The concept of 'buildings within buildings' was heavy in the conceptual massing of the structure.

Two open cores separate the areas and pass through external and internal spaces. Gardens sit at the bottom of these cores and are exposed to external conditions that can be observed at ease from internal areas.

The overall design of the building took on a modernist/brutalist approach like that of what is seen in Herve's work, with a monochrome palette to bring to focus the work displayed across the building.

The east and west facades of the building are required to be in fitting with the existing elevations. I wanted to entwine the existing facades of adjacent buildings, but the JML view allowed for a slight diversity in appearances. A rooftop deck brings an attraction to view the Aberdeen skyline.