Listed Building
The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.
Address/Name of Site
23 AND 25 RUBISLAW DEN SOUTH, INCLUDING BOUNDARY WALLSLB20790
Status: Designated
Documents
There are no additional online documents for this record.
Summary
- Category
- C
- Date Added
- 17/06/1992
- Local Authority
- Aberdeen
- Planning Authority
- Aberdeen
- Burgh
- Aberdeen
- NGR
- NJ 91810 5729
- Coordinates
- 391810, 805729
Description
Arthur Clyne, circa 1900. 2-storey and attic, 4-bay double villa comprising 2 2-bay mirrored houses. Rough faced granite finely finished to margins of principal elevation, grey granite to ground floor, pink granite to 1st floor; Aberdeen-bond rubble to remainder. Base course; ground floor cill course; tooled dividing band course forming 1st floor cill course.
N (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: symmetrical; 2 doorways to centre bays of ground floor, with sunken fillet below lintels, pilastered timber doors, panelled, flanked by glazed panels, letterbox fanlights, window above each to 1st floor. Shallow rectangular-plan tripartite windows with banded rustication through ground and 1st floors of bays to outer left and right, parapets breaking eaves; bipartite flat-roofed dormers to attic floor above, skylights to central bays between.
W ELEVATION: asymmetrical; gabled; window to centre of 1st floor; single storey wing adjoining to right of ground floor.
S ELEVATION: not seen 2000.
E ELEVATION: asymmetrical; gabled; window to centre of 1st floor; single storey wing adjoining to left of ground floor.
Predominantly 2-pane timber sash and case windows. Grey slate roof with decorative terracotta ridge. Stone skews with blocked skewputts. Coped gablehead and wallhead stacks and stacks breaking pitch, circular cans. Cast-iron rainwater goods.
INTERIORS: not seen 2000.
BOUNDARY WALLS: low coped Aberdeen bond granite walls to N; rubble walls to remainder.
Statement of Special Interest
From the beginning of the 19th century Aberdeen rapidly expanded westwards from Union Street. 23 and 25 Rubislaw Den South is part of the later 19th century development W of Queen's Cross. Rubislaw Den South runs almost parallel to Queen's Road (on the site of Skene Road) which was originally surrounded by the estate of Rubislaw. In 1877 Rubislaw Estate was bought by the City of Aberdeen Land Association, who re-aligned Skene Road and sold off the estate in smaller plots. Streets became wider and villas with substantial gardens often replaced terraces. Prestigious architects, such as Arthur Clyne, were often employed to produce bold and unusual designs to reflect the wealth and individuality of the clients. Arthur Clyne, and his partner John Bridgeford Pirie, designed some of the most prestigious houses in Aberdeen's West End. 1 and 3 Rubislaw Den South is almost identical to 1 and 3 Rubislaw Den South (see separate listing). Both houses follow the same double villa formula that Pirie and Clyne employ for their houses in Hamilton Place (see separate listings), however detail is kept to a minimum, the doorways being the most characteristic part of the design, with sunken fillets below the lintels. Buildings executed by Arthur Clyne after his partner Pirie died tend to be more conservative, which would explain the more restrained design of these houses in Rubislaw Den South.
References
Bibliography
No Bibliography entries for this designation
About Listed Buildings
Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.
We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.
Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.
We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)
Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.
These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.
The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.
While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.
If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.
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