Marischal College ( MAR-shəl) was one of the two universities in Aberdeen between 1593 and 1860, alongside King's College, Aberdeen, with which it merged to form the University of Aberdeen in 1860. Its nineteenth-century building, which began to be constructed in 1835 but was not completed until 1906, has served since 2011 as the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. Today, it provides corporate office space and public access to services, adjacent to the Town House, the city's historic seat of local government. It is the second largest granite building in the world.
The building was used by the University of Aberdeen for academic purposes until the mid-20th century and less and less until the early 2000s. During this period the building was frequently rebuilt and expanded. In the mid-to-late 20th century, teaching and academic activities at the university began to move to King's College or Foresterhill (for students of medicine) and by the early 21st century a new purpose for Marischal College was required. After a number of unsuccessful proposals, the majority of the building was leased to Aberdeen City Council to be restored and refurbished as office accommodation. The extensive renovation was completed on schedule and significantly under budget and the building opened to the public in June 2011. The university has retained the Mitchell Hall and a number of other significant parts of the building for its own use, in addition to its museum stores (formerly the Marischal Museum).
