Greenferns

The Greenferns site area is located to the northeast of Aberdeen and covers some 80ha. The site is included as an Opportunity Site within the adopted Aberdeen Local Development Plan (2017) (ALDP). The allocation establishes the principle of developing the site as an extension of the city boundary for around 1,470 homes and 10 hectares of employment land. The site forms an important contribution to meeting the City’s housing and employment land requirements.

OPEN was appointed by Aberdeen City Council to lead a multi-disciplinary team to prepare a Development Framework and Phase 1 Masterplan to support an Application for Planning Permission in Principle (PPP). The Framework and Masterplan would set the overarching design parameters, key infrastructure requirements and appropriate phasing, to help guide future development of the site.

The Development Framework provides a refresh of the current 2018 Greenferns Development Framework, which forms Interim Planning Advice to the adopted Aberdeen Local Development Plan (2017). It sets out a vision for the development of the site and an established concept to inform how a successful new community at can be taken forward as part of an exemplar residential and mixed-use development.

The Development Framework evolved over the course of the design and masterplanning process, presenting a refined, updated, and improved version of the plan included in the 2018 Planning Advice. The updates are as a direct result of increased technical understanding of the site, design input from the client and design team, in addition to consultation with Aberdeen City Council, relevant stakeholders and the local community.

In addition to the Development Framework a Phase 1 Masterplan was also prepared, as a requirement of the ALDP, to inform an initial release of social rented housing, mixed-use neighbourhood centre, local areas of open space and employment land provision on land within the identified Phase 1 boundary.

The Development Framework and Phase 1 Masterplan were prepared in 2022 and submitted in support of the PPP Application in 2023.