Broadford Works: Sewing Mill, Maberly Street, Aberdeen

Five storey sewing mill, 3 by 12 bays, oculi to gables. Bricked arched floors on iron columns. Steel roof trusses to pitched slate roof. Part of large group of textile manufacturing and storage buildings, granite and brick-clad, of iron-framed or reinforced concrete construction, with setted streets between them. Slate or flat roofs.

The oldest iron-framed mill in Scotland and the fourth oldest known to survive in the world (after others of 1796, 1804 and 1805, all inter- related).
The adjoining South Mill may be the third iron framed building in Scotland.

Built for Scott Brown and Co (of Angus), 1808, bankrupt 1811 and sold to Sir John Maberly MP, entrepreneur, speculator and introducer of jute to the UK. Maberley rapidly developed Broadford Works, adopting the first gas lighting of an industrial complex in Scotland, by Boulton and Watt in 1814-15, and Scotland's second power loom linen weaving factory in Scotland in 1824. Maberly was himself bankrupt and in 1834 the works passed to Richards and Co, who had a bleachworks at Rubislaw and branches at Montrose, produced canvas tarpaulins and as a particular specialism, fire hoses. Latterly man- made fibres for carpet yarn etc has replaced flax. Employment peaked at 3,000, once the largest single employer in Aberdeen. (Historic Scotland).

July 2004: 13 July 2004: The Aberdeen Evening Express reports that the works are vacant and unused. Hawkrow Ltd is seeking permissions to convert some listed structures into flats and to build 5 blocks of flats, 4 houses, a car park and supermarket on the site. A strict planning brief for the site was compiled by local planners in 2001 and allows for the demolition of the eastern side of the site.

July 2007: 22 June 2007: The Aberdeen Evening Express reports that an application has been put before the planning committee by First Construction for a £50m scheme centred on the mill including 398 flats, shops, offices, a restaurant, a pub and 501 parking spaces. No decision was reached pending a site visit. Concerns were raised over the height of some of the buildings, the impact on shops on George Street, a lack of affordable housing and the lack of a playpark.

1 June 2008: The Aberdeen Evening Express reports that an appeal against the refusal of planning permission, due to lack of affordable housing, may be given permission to commence work, but will have to re-apply for Listed Building Consent.

August 2008: Local planners report that planning permission has been granted, following an appeal and inquiry. Listed building consent has not yet been granted.

June 2009: STV Newswebsite reports on a fire breaking out at the Broadford Works site, one building is reported to have had damage to the roof, with further damage to other buildings. Local planners advise that they hope to make a site visit to the Works in the near future.

December 2009: Local planners report that Tenants First Housing Co-operative has expressed interest in Broadford Works.

February 2011: The Press & Journal reports on a public consultation to commence next week on revised plans for Broadford Works complex. The article notes the proposal is to convert the site to a houseing/ leisure complex with an additional new build element of 220 flats. A Proposal of Application Notice was submitted to Aberdeen City Council Oct 2010 ref: 101667.

August 2011: Local planners confirm a fire occurred at the site yesterday. Not thought to have caused any serious damage. Princes Regeneration Trust and the site‘s owners are continuing to work together to draw up development plans for the site.

December 2011: Urban Realm website reports applications have been lodged with Aberdeen City Council to develop the former mill site into a residential development, retail and restaurant spaces and a nursety, with access to the city opened up by a series of new public spaces. The article notes a phased programme led by the Prince’s Regeneration Trust is planned to implement the scheme with close collaboration between the site owner, the Council, Historic Scotland and the Tenant First House Co-operative.

3 July 2012: Aberdeen City Council have produced, in partnership with the building's owner and Grampian Fire and Rescue Service, a risk assessment survey of the former works, highlighting security issues around the perimeter of the site that pose hazards to unauthorised accessing of the site, and to emergency services personnel responding to incidents at the site. The report outlines measures to reduce unauthorised accessing of the site and measures to reduce hazards within the site. Alongside this report a Dangerous Building Notice has been served requiring works to be completed by July 30 2012. During this period the Council's Community Safety Team has introduced CCTV monitoring of the site and City Wardens are increasing patrols around the site.

20 July 2012: STV News reports First Construction Limited's proposal to create 517 new homes, commercial space, restaurant, and nursery, with retention and conversion of 11 of the A-listed buildings, has failed to gain permission at Aberdeen City Council's development sub committee meeting. The article goes on to report concerns were expressed over the lack of affordable housing, the numbers of historic buildings proposed for demolition, potential over development of the site and a lack of planning gain contributions towards local infrastructure.

28 November 2012: Limited external inspection possible from the boundary of the site. General, slow deterioration in condition is evident.

19 September 2017: Site visit accompanied by new owner's site agent. External and partial internal survey. General deterioration is evident. Rainwater goods are clogged with vegetation, downpipes are missing in places. Walls are damp beneath malfunctioning downpipes. Window glazings are widely broken/ missing and window frames are buckled in places where they have been damaged through fire-raising.

26 April 2018: Listed Building Consents for the redevelopment of the former works are now being sought. Consent for the for the restoration and conversion to mixed use of the buildings within the site (excluding the old mill range) with extensions and new build elements, ref: 180531/LBC.
An accompanying application for substantial demolition of South Mill, Old Mill and the stair tower, with retention of the remaining sections of the building, is also being sought ref: 180535/LBC.

9 November 2018: Listed Building for the restoration and conversion to mixed use of the buildings within the site (excluding the old mill range) with extensions and new build elements was conditionally approved Sept 2018 ref: 180531/LBC.