These two new students residential buildings at Garthdee were the first stage in a programme of expansion at Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University. The siting and form of the buildings had therefore to fit into a larger idea for the campus, as well as standing on their own as individual designs.
In future the campus may have new faculty buildings in addition to those existing and these will have the characteristic large footprint of such building types. In broad terms the strategy will be to group these larger faculty buildings, so that wedges of the existing lawns and trees give a sense of continuity to the fine Deeside parkland.
By contrast, the residential buildings can be limited in size and footprint, making the most of what is offered by the site.
The first two buildings are located at the top of the embankment overlooking the River Dee. They take the form of Scottish tower houses, using traditional forms and materials. The opportunity is taken to enhance the tree-lined ridge of the embankment by planning the building in a romantic and pictorial manner.
With the square building, the unsightly precast concrete flank wall of the existing lecture theatre is masked. The circular building is positioned to take full advantage of the dramatic relationship with the bend in the river. The circular form and the traditional pink harling colour – partly hidden amongst the trees – provide a memorable new element, both within the campus and when seen through the foliage across the valley.
An advantage of the tower house form is that the area taken up by the plan is minimised. The buildings are small in bulk compared with the dominating scale of the line of trees and gives the opportunity of preserving the very special landscape character of this part of Deeside.