Union Square is a

shopping centre A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre ( Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known colle ...

located in the centre of

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, which opened to the public on Thursday, 29 October 2009. The centre contains a covered

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

and

retail park A retail park is a type of shopping centre found on the fringes of most large towns and cities in the United Kingdom and other European countries. They form a key aspect of European retail geographies, alongside indoor shopping centres, standal ...

. Located on Guild Street and Market Street, the development adjoins onto the side of

Aberdeen railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Aberdeen station 01, August 2013.JPG , caption = Concourse at Aberdeen station (2013) , borough = Aberdeen, City of Aberdeen , country = Scotland , coordinates = , grid_name = Grid refe ...

and a new Aberdeen bus station creating a

transport hub A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles and/or between transport modes. Public transport hubs include railway stations, rapid transit stations, bus stops, tram stops, airports and ferry slips. F ...

. The mall houses more than 60 shops, over fifteen restaurants, a ten screen 2,300 seat

Cineworld Cineworld Group plc is a British cinema operator headquartered in London, England. It is the world's second-largest cinema chain (after AMC Theatres), with 9,518 screens across 790 sites in 10 countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Irela ...

cinema (the largest in Aberdeen) and a 3-star

Jurys Inn Jurys Inn is a hotel group operating across the UK, Ireland and Czech Republic, with 36 locations under the Jurys Inn brand and 7 under the Leonardo brand. In total, the company operates 38 hotels in the UK, four in Ireland and one in the Czech R ...

hotel with 203 rooms.

History

Following delays, the developer

Hammerson Hammerson plc is a major British property development and investment company. The firm switched to real estate investment trust (REIT) status when they were introduced in the United Kingdom in January 2007. It is listed on the London Stock Excha ...

began construction of Union Square in 2007. Costing £250 million, it is one of the largest city centre shopping developments in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and the second largest in Scotland after

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

's Buchanan Galleries, with a total retail space of . The hotel opened on 4 September 2009. The shopping centre itself opened on 29 October 2009. More than 40 shops were trading on opening day and this number rose to around 50 by Christmas, with many other retailers opening in 2010 and into 2011 onwards.

Transportation

The construction of Union Square on disused railway land also saw the redevelopment of

Aberdeen bus station Aberdeen bus station is a bus station in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is operated by Stagecoach Group. History A single central bus station in Aberdeen was first considered in the 1950s, with a site in Upper Denburn selected by W. Alexander & Sons. ...

. The shopping centre is now part of a covered interchange between the bus and railway station. Additional bus services run past the centre via Guild Street.

References

External links

Union Square official site
{{Use dmy dates, date=May 2014 Shopping centres in Aberdeen Shopping malls established in 2009 2009 establishments in Scotland

History

Transportation

See also

References

External links