The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Foundations for future the
Once abandoned and at risk of neglect, some of Dundee’s most historic buildings are being reborn. Michael Alexander looks to the future
A lot of these old buildings capture the character of the city. It would be nice to see them used
Dundee’s skyline is changing. From the demolition of the Alexander Street multistorey blocks to the ongoing redevelopment of the waterfront and the rapidly evolving V&A museum, it’s a time of transformation as the city turns its face to the future with renewed hope and ambition.
But that doesn’t mean the remnants of the city’s industrial past are being left behind in the rush to modernise.
The factories, mills and warehouses which once thrummed to the noise and commotion of its traditional trades are being pressed back into life to support the web developers, artists and designers hoping to steer its future growth.
Take the Royal Exchange building on Panmure Street. From the outside, it appears virtually unchanged since 1854 when celebrated Victorian architect David Bryce won a competition to build it for Dundee Chamber of Commerce.
Its closure in 2008 could have marked the end of an era in the city’s trading heritage but nine years on, there’s a BrewDog pub and a function hall, catering for hipsters and high society alike on the ground and first floors.
But in the roof space is where the real magic happens.
Here, the Fleet Collective is helping to drive Dundee’s growing reputation as a centre for the creative industries.
The collective – a community interest company committed to the arts – has breathed new life into the city centre landmark with a desk-sharing area that brings together freelancers, researchers and businesses working in fields such as art, design, web development, gaming, publishing and film-making.
Donna Holford-Lovell – a former curator at Abertay University’s Hannah McLure Centre – co-founded it along with designer and former part-time college lecturer Lyall Bruce as a way to stem the brain drain from Dundee.
“Both Lyall and I were working in university environments and often saw talent just slipping out of the city,” she says. “We always said it would be great if we could develop a communal working space for artists, designers, technologists and scientists that helped people to stay and develop their careers, and keep jobs in Dundee.”
Surrounded by the original roof beams and stained glass windows, the base still has much of its historic character but striking new features include specially created cardboard shelving and use of recycled furniture.
The environment has also proved inspirational in ways that a modern, purpose-built building would not have been able to achieve.
“A lot of these old buildings capture the character of the city,” adds Lyall.
“It would be nice to see them lived in and used rather than just sitting empty.”
As a place that has seen industries come and go, Dundee is no stranger to transformation.
The M&S Simply Food building at the Gallagher Retail Park is a relic of Gourlays of Dundee, a 19th Century engineering company which produced steam engines for ships.
At the nearby docks, the category
A-listed Clocktower – built more than 130 years ago to show its face to any vessel in the harbour or on the river Tay – was restored to provide luxury apartments and a penthouse, winning the Dundee Civic Trust award and Saltire Society design awards.
The Dundee MakerSpace building at Seabraes is a former jute mill converted into workspace for people making anything from art and furniture to electronics and software, while another centre of the jute trade, Meadow Mill, was redeveloped by the Wasps organisation in 2012 to house up to 100 artists in 58 studios across three floors.
Not far from the Old Mill student accommodation on Marketgait is Dundee’s former inner city district of Blackness with the High Mill and Verdant Works museum at its heart.
In its heyday, Verdant Works ran three steam engines driving 70 power looms and 2,800 spindles and employed 500 people. It was bought by Dundee Heritage Trust in 1991 and restored over six years ago to become home to Scotland’s award-winning jute museum.
The trust has now embarked on an ambitious £2.75 million project to restore the High Mill at the A-listed works site and transform it in to new exhibition space.
The collision of old and new came into sharp focus last year when the West Ward Works – where The Courier publisher DC Thomson & Co used to produce 5 million books a year – was reopened as the nerve centre for the 2016 Dundee Design Festival. The building was mothballed in 2010 after a half century of turning out Beezer, Twinkle, Broons and Oor Wullie annuals to an eager public. But over four days in May it came alive as thousands of people flocked to enjoy exhibitions, talks and workshops to mark the city’s first full year as the UK’s UNESCO City of Design.
Anna Day, manager with UNESCO City of Design, Dundee and Cultural Projects, says it was a real pleasure for the UNESCO team to bring this “giant of a building” back to life. “West Ward Works, for me, sums up the history and future of Dundee,” she says. “Once it was a jute mill, then the home of the Beano and Dandy annual, now it will be a centre for design, making and creativity.”
It’s crucial that the city recognises the potential of its existing landmarks while the transformation of the waterfront and other high profile projects unfolds, says planning consultant Neil Gray.
The Dundee University-educated partner with Edinburgh-based Rapleys organised a recent hustings to explore how Dundee City Council could protect former industrial buildings by allowing greater flexibility in their use.
He points to the Blackness General Economic Development Area (GEDA), where new occupants range from the Verdant Works and High Mill visitor attractions to dance venues, a mosque, student accommodation, repair workshops and creative art and craft centres.
Neil reckons there’s great potential to make more of the city’s industrial heritage as part of the Tay Cities Deal, whose themes of inclusive growth and internationalisation present an opportunity to take the best of Dundee, Perth and the wider world.
“Through this the buildings might be projected to the world as exemplars of their past, but also exemplars of the future – including business incubator units for creative industries, new tech start-ups, showcase museums and galleries,” he predicts.
Gillian Easson is co-founding director of Creative Dundee, which was set up to connect and amplify the wealth of creative talent in and around the city.
She is thrilled to see so many old industrial buildings taking on a new lease of life in Dundee, but says there’s still a need for more.
She said: “As these great creative hubs show, Dundee already has many of the best examples of how former industrial buildings can be transformed by artists and designers, who bring new types of energy and industriousness.
“Cities around the world are trying to tackle this challenge, and Dundee is increasingly recognised as a city to take inspiration from.
“We’re keen to see many more collaborations happen between planners, developers, property owners and creative communities to make sure Dundee’s creative scene and our city’s older spaces continue to flourish.”