Ventilator - Justice Mill Lane, Aberdeen

Circa 1905. Cast-iron ventilator in tower form with decorative Art Nouveau detailing, sited on traffic island at head of Justice Mill Lane, at junction with Holburn Street. Later concrete base with splayed corners supporting cylindrical shaft adorned with stylised foliage at base, and rising with reeded moulding in 4 places (suggesting plant stalks) and terminating in frieze of stylised flowers, crowned with arcaded ventilator head further adorned with stylised foliage and terminated by polygonal, finialled cap. The ventilator marks the end of the remarkable cable subway running from here, under Crown Street, to the former Electricity Works and Tram Car Depot in Millburn and Crown Streets (see separate listing), to which it provided necessary ventilation. The Art Nouveau style employed for the fine Paris Metro station entrances (designed by Hector Guimard), perhaps inspired its use to demark this underground subway, similarly linked to transport.