The Aloft Hotel will be the first building in phase 2 of the AECC masterplan at Bucksburn, and will be located just north of the Hilton Hotel that adjoins the new AECC, which is currently under construction by Robertson Group.

The multi-million pound AECC project, which is being delivered by Aberdeen City Council and its development partner Henry Boot Developments Limited, will provide a new world-class facility for Scotland. The 12,500-capacity arena will host major events including conferences, exhibitions and music concerts.

The new facility is expected to contribute an additional 4.5 million visitors, £113 million of visitor spend and £63m net Gross Value Added to the Scottish economy. It will also result in the creation of 352 full-time-equivalent permanent positions by year 10 of operations.

The new Aloft Hotel has been designed by architects Cooper Cromar.

Nick Harris, director of Henry Boot Developments in Scotland, said: “Having a world-class music and conference venue in Aberdeen will be of tremendous benefit to the north east. Recent figures from industry body UK Music suggest 40% of people going to live music events are music tourists – people travelling to the venue from elsewhere in the UK or abroad. The new AECC arena will have a capacity similar to the Hydro in Glasgow, making it far more likely that Aberdeen will attract the big names in entertainment and get a bigger slice of this music tourism pie. That’s why it’s great to have high-quality, modern hotels like Aloft on site to meet this need.”

Aberdeen City Council co-leader, Councillor Jenny Laing, said: “This is another major milestone in the development of the new AECC which is a big part of our plan to transform the city with major new infrastructure projects. We’re looking forward to watching the progression of the Aloft hotel as it is built, and how it integrates with the other structures already in place.”

Robertson Group’s chief executive officer, Derek Shewan, added: “The AECC will be a world-class events and conference space, with equally outstanding facilities. We at Robertson Group are proud to be constructing the Aloft Hotel, which will be situated on the AECC site. Groundworks have already begun on the hotel, which will ultimately boast 150 bedrooms over four floors.”