Air Traffic Control Tower, Aberdeen International Airport

Built in 1978, this air traffic control tower was designed by architects McAlister Armstrong and Partners in collaboration with structural engineers Sir Frederick Snow & Partners. It stands as an operational control facility serving Aberdeen International Airport, located approximately 100 metres inside the airfield perimeter fence on the west side of the airfield, positioned between the main taxiway and the CHC Helicopters base.

The tower rises 22 metres and adopts the form of a ziggurat, a stepped pyramidal structure. Its reinforced concrete structural frame supports floors comprising alternating horizontal bands of glazing and angled precast concrete panel sections of cladding. At ground floor level, a concrete base course is largely glazed, with a flat-roofed, metal-clad canopy extending from the east elevation. The upper floor levels progressively reduce in size, stepping back at each storey on three sides to create balconies with painted steel frame railings and walkways. The southwest elevation, by contrast, remains nearly vertical. Topping the structure is a glazed, steel-framed octagonal Visual Control Room offering unobstructed views across the entire airfield and its approaches. The glazing was upgraded in 2005.

Internally, the tower is organised over six floors arranged around a central twin stair and lift shaft, with distinct functions occupying each level. The interior room layout and fixtures have been incrementally altered and updated to meet ongoing operational requirements. Telecommunications equipment and aerials are mounted on the Visual Control Room roof and the balcony steel frame railings, subject to regular upgrade to meet developing operational, technological, and regulatory requirements.

Two ancillary buildings adjoin the tower on the north-west side: a rectangular podium block containing plant and an enclosed garage to the north, originally an open car port and subsequently altered. These are excluded from the listing.

The site has a long aviation history. An aerodrome opened at Dyce in 1934 under Aberdeen Airways Ltd, operating services to London and the northern Scottish islands. At the outbreak of the Second World War, it was taken over by the Royal Air Force, becoming RAF Dyce, with camp and logistical facilities developed to the west of the runway. Civilian operations resumed in 1946 under British European Airways. During the 1950s, runways were extended and the original terminal building constructed on the east side of the airport, later replaced by the Bond Offshore Helicopter Terminal 2.

The aerodrome entered a quiet period until the discovery of North Sea oil in the late 1960s transformed its role. Helicopter operations began in 1967, linking newly developed offshore platforms to the mainland. By 1972, when the Civil Aviation Authority took control, Aberdeen had begun to emerge as the world's largest commercial heliport. The British Airports Authority assumed management in 1975 and initiated major expansion. A new terminal designed by Robert Matthew, Johnson-Marshall and Partners opened in 1979. The new air traffic control tower was constructed from 1978 onwards by William Tawse Limited as civil engineers and Alexander Hall & Son as builders, becoming operational by 1980 and replacing the original Second World War tower located to the south, which no longer survives.

AGS Airports Ltd has operated the airport since 2014. Aberdeen Airport handled 2.1 million passengers in 2022, including 360,000 helicopter passengers, with helicopters accounting for almost half of all aircraft movements.