Ayr-based building contractors William Skinner & Son have successfully completed a £1.5 million refurbishment of the prestigious St Nicholas Shopping Centre in Aberdeen.

The St Nicholas Shopping Centre and its sister centre the Bon Accord form the established prime shopping location for the City of Aberdeen. The centres are owned by Scottish Retail Property Limited Partnership which is a joint venture between British Land Plc and Land Securities.

The St Nicholas Centre is a busy covered shopping centre leading from Aberdeen’s main street (Union Street) to the Bon Accord Shopping Centre.

The centre has circa 13 million footfall per annum which equates to an average weekly footfall of 260,000. It contains 25 shop units within approx 100,000 sq ft.

Construction began in 1983 with the centre's doors opening 1985, 20 years after the centre opening, it was beginning to look tired and dated.

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It was suggested that the St. Nicholas Centre could be branded as a 'younger', more fashionable centre, reflecting the presence of the vibrant fashion retailers within.

The project comprised of the refurbishment of the shopping mall common areas (805 sq.m, (8665 sq.ft.), including the renewal of floor surfaces, pilaster finishes, ceiling finishes, lighting features, upgrading the sprinkler system, replacing entrance screens and doors, installing new entrance signage/canopies and mechanical & electrical upgrades.

The concept for the refresh scheme is taken from geological formations and the use of light to create a space that is inviting, fresh and contemporary; encouraging shoppers to increase their dwell time within the centre.

Customers are enticed into the centre from Union Street via a crisp clean back-lit white box with 'st nicholas' simply applied in a sophisticated and understated manner in a black font (matched with new branding guidelines). The theme of light continues internally with a double ribbon of light which flows down the length of the mall eventually terminating at an external white light box at the Schoolhill entrance.

William Skinner & Son managing director Sandy Cunningham said: "Retail refurbishment has always been one of our company's traditional core specialisations, and we are proud to add the St Nicholas Centre in Aberdeen to our ever growing portfolio of successfully completed projects."

(GK/KMcA)