Woodhill House

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Woodhill House
Woodhill House, Westburn Road - geograph.org.uk - 14346.jpg
Woodhill House
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Woodhill House
Location within Aberdeen City council area
General information
Architectural style Brutalist style
AddressWestburn Road, Aberdeen
CountryUnited Kingdom
Coordinates 57°09′12″N2°08′51″W / 57.1532°N 2.1476°W / 57.1532; -2.1476
Completed1977

Woodhill House is a large office development on Westburn Road in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was built as the headquarters of Grampian Regional Council in 1977 and then became the offices and meeting place of Aberdeenshire Council in 1996.

Contents

History

The area was previously occupied by a county mansion, also known as Woodhill House, which dated from the 18th century and became the home of an advocate, Alexander Jopp, in the 19th century. [1] [2] [3] Aberdeenshire County Council acquired the old house and its estate as a potential site for new offices in 1967. [4]

The current building was commissioned by Grampian Regional Council, which was established in 1975, to be its headquarters. It was designed in the Brutalist style, built in concrete and glass and was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in May 1977. [5] [6] [7] The design involved two four-storey wings, one to the north of the other, with the north wing projected slightly to the west of the south wing. To the east of the main structure was a two-storey curved block. [8]

Following the implementation of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, Grampian Regional Council was abolished in 1996 and ownership of the building was transferred to the new unitary authority, Aberdeenshire Council, [9] which designated the building its main office. [10] Part of the building was subsequently let to Hewlett-Packard and to the Grampian Valuation Joint Board. [11] [12]

Artifacts in the building include a Pictish stone known as the "Rhynie Man" which depicts a bearded man carrying an axe; it was discovered near the village of Rhynie in 1978. [13] [14] [15]

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References

  1. ↑ "Gardening Appointments". The Gardener's Chronicle. 4 July 1986. p. 26. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  2. ↑ "Aberdeenshire: Woodhill House OS1/1/69/126". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  3. ↑ Scotland. Owners of Lands and Heritages, 17 & 18 Vict., Cap. 91. 1872-73. Comptroller-General of Internal Revenue. 1874. p. 5.
  4. ↑ "Woodhill House, Westburn Road, Aberdeen". Aberdeen City Council. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  5. ↑ "The Queen's jubilee trips to Scotland". BBC. 2 June 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  6. ↑ "70 years on the throne – remembering one of Queen Elizabeth II's trips to the north-east". Aberdeen Live. 21 April 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  7. ↑ "The Queen seen here leaving the Grampian Headquarters Woodhill House after officially open the building". Getty Images. 23 May 1977. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  8. ↑ Historic Environment Scotland. "Aberdeen, Westburn Road, Woodhill House (70543)". Canmore . Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  9. ↑ "Goodbye to Grampian and hello Aberdeenshire". Grampian Online. 4 April 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  10. ↑ "Grampian Regional Council". Grampian-Houston Association. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  11. ↑ "North Wing 2nd Floor, Woodhill House" (PDF). F. G. Burnett. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 December 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  12. ↑ "What can we do with the office? Case Studies" (PDF). Scottish Futures Trust. p. 6. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  13. ↑ Holder, Geoff (2010). The Guide to Mysterious Aberdeen. History Press. ISBN   978-0750959889.
  14. ↑ The Pictish Symbol Stones of Scotland. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. 2008. p. 40. ISBN   978-1902419534.
  15. ↑ "Archaeologists aim to unravel the mystery of the Rhynie Man". University of Aberdeen. 20 August 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
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