Historic Built Environment

Gary Knox, Conservation Officer • Dundee City Council Planning and Transportation Department • Telephone: 01382 433414 • Email: gary knox

The city has seen a number of major conservation projects in recent years, a selection of which are outlined below:

Morgan Academy has recently been restored by Dundee City Council after a fire destroyed the building in 2002, and has recently been shortlisted for the Building Conservation category of the RICS Awards 2005. With little more than the stonework façade surviving the fire, the building has now been carefully restored to its former glory with sensitive internal alterations providing modern facilities for pupils and staff at the school. Principles of sustainability and high quality conservation work were priority with this important listed building. For further information on the history of the school and images, before and after the fire, visit the Morgan Academy Former Pupils Association website.

Morgan Academy	Arnotts Stonework	Gardyne’s Land	Baxter Park	MacManus Galleries	St. Mary’s Tower

The former Arnotts department store on High Street/ Commercial Street has also been undergoing major redevelopment, most of which has been hidden from public view until recently. Externally the stonework facade has been ‘restored’, removing many inappropriate alterations, and reinstating important architectural features. Behind the facade, much of the building is new construction, however, a section of the original building containing the ‘Pillared Tearoom’, and Art Nouveau Deco style ‘Smoke Lounge’ has been retained and the decorative plasterwork restored internally. View a photographic diary of the work in progress courtesy of the specialist plasterwork contractor.

Gardyne’s Land, a unique complex of listed buildings at risk in the heart of Dundee, the earliest dating from around 1560, is currently subject to a £5.5 million funding package being brought together by Tayside Building Preservation Trust, for its conservation and conversion into a youth hostel. The Trust’s first successful project was the Sea Captains House and Calendar Works, St. Andrews Lane (Case study courtesy of the Urban Conservation Glossary). Dundee City Council are now managing the Gardyne’s Land project in consultation with Tayside Building Preservation Trust.

Baxter Park (1863) is currently part of a Heritage Lottery Funded project by Dundee City Council involving the restoration of the park’s original layout by Sir Joseph Paxton, and the future management and conservation of the park. The project also involves the conservation of listed buildings within the park, and the re-instatement of its gates and railings. Additional funding has been provided by Historic Scotland.

Another major conservation project by Dundee City Council is planned for one of Dundee’s most attractive historic buildings – McManus Galleries. In addition to conservation and restoration of the built fabric of this important listed building, the project will include improving access and interpretation within the building.

A number of Dundee’s medieval buildings and features still exist, dominated by St. Mary's Tower known locally as ‘The Old Steeple’. This is Scotland’s highest surviving medieval tower at 48.8m (160ft) – 232 steps to be precise! Many of the city’s wynds and narrow closes still exist, and include remnants of earlier medieval buildings. Established in 1564, the Howff Burial Ground is home to an outstanding collection of funerary monuments from the 16^th to 19^th centuries.

Dundee also has an impressive industrial heritage, much of which remains, with no less than 16 of the city’s mills already converted to residential use. In particular, Tay Works is one of Dundee’s greatest industrial monuments – possibly the largest textile mill in the UK with its dramatic 650ft long frontage. Verdant Works, one of the city’s former jute mills, was restored between 1991–6 and stands as a multiple award winning industrial museum.

To browse or search the Council’s on-line archive of over 2,400 photographs of Old Dundee visit Photopolis. Alternatively to see how the city has developed, visit the Council’s on-line Historic Dundee Map Collection.