Dundee Could Have Been an Architectural Marvel
- editorinchief32
- Mar 19
- 4 min read
Connor Bertie
A failed 1912 Dundee waterfront planning proposal sheds light on what the city could have looked like today.
In 2013, Dundee’s £1.6 billion waterfront was given the greenlight to enact the major transformation that can be seen today. The V&A now stands as a monument beside the R.S.S. Discovery, and Slessor Gardens has been the catalyst for many concerts to be hosted within Dundee.
However, 101 years prior to this project, Dundee was the subject of another vast revampment proposal that saw a grandiose vision for the city.
James Thomson, Dundee’s city architect and engineer in the early 20th century, proposed a large-scale expansion to Dundee’s waterfront, involving the construction of a ‘Civic Building’ complemented by many public gardens.
Similar to that of the American ‘Capitol Building’ in Washington DC, with its separate wings and large domed roof, it would have been an impressive spectacle to all visitors arriving in Dundee by rail, as the plans indicate it would have been placed front and centre from the old train station.
Surrounding the Civic Building and expanding towards the rail bridge, there would have been large parks and gardens filled with greenery and path networks between them for the public to use. Fountains were to be erected every so often along the waterfront, the biggest of which would have been directly across from one of Thomson’s proposed buildings. Connecting the two would have been a long and wide stretch of road which Thomson envisioned to be fit for cars, as can be seen as minor additions in the plans themselves, rightfully believing them to become commercially available.
In place of what is now the Caird Hall, designed by Thomson and named after its sponsor, Sir James Caird, was to be an indoor city market. Complete with a rooftop garden open to the public, visitors would have been able to look out towards the grand new waterfront and the River Tay.
Thomson also believed that further expansion could be made beyond the waterfront involving the development of more reclaimed land, but no record of this was drawn up.
As incredible as this could have been, the plan of course did not go ahead, as several factors got in the way of the decision-making towards its construction: the grandeur of such a prospect for Dundee was viewed as too transformative, with many council members believing that the end result would turn the city into something unrecognisable. The funding of the project was also put into question by Dundee City Council, and it was deemed too expensive. Sir James Caird held opposition towards Thomson’s architectural designs, but later gifted £100,000 towards the development of the Caird Hall, on the condition that he held control over its design.
The only part of Thomson’s original proposal that went ahead was the improved City Square that sits in front of the Caird Hall; nevertheless, it’s fascinating to speculate how different Dundee could have been today if the city had gone ahead with this historic and awe-inspiring plan.
Dr. Kenneth Baxter, archivist within Dundee University and co-author of ‘Lost Dundee’, shares his thoughts: “When the Courier reported on Thomson's plans in some detail on 19 February 1912, it made clear that
this was a grand vision of change which would have seen some spectacular new architectural developments. Undoubtedly the civic centre Thomson envisaged would have been the finest building in the city and his other developments would have created a city centre that would have attracted notice across the UK. As the Courier's editorial that day noted Thomson's development was designed to appeal "to the imagination" and was "calculated to rouse pride and enthusiasm" among the city's population. The idea certainly seemed to do that.
“Many at the time felt that Dundee's city centre looked out-dated and tired. Lord Provost Urquhart was quoted in 1912 as saying of Thomson's plans that "it behoves a city such as Dundee to show the best front it can, to display as good a shop window as we can". This reflects a feeling that Dundee needed to equal or outdo other manufacturing cities who had built elaborate civic buildings if it was to attract trade and business and appear important. The waterfront was key to this. The harbour and the railway stations were the main points of arrival for visitors to Dundee, hence the idea that the new civic centre should be built beside them and improvements made to the adjoining area.
“As the Courier's editorial noted, the cost of the scheme was a serious issue, and it correctly predicted that this was one which critics would pick up on. While the Courier sounded a positive note that this problem could be overcome, it did suggest that British trading policy would need to be altered to be more protectionist so that the city's industries could grow (suggesting that Dundee could one day accommodate 500,000 people if this happened). This was a somewhat unrealistic ambition and arguably suggests that Thomson's schemes were simply too elaborate for an area of Dundee's size and income, at least in the short term.
“Yet his ideas captured the imagination, and regardless of their viability, they came to be seen as greatly superior to many of the alterations that were actually made to Dundee in the decades that followed. In no small part this was because Dundonians came to rue the demolition of many historic structures, but it reflects a feeling that Thomson's unbuilt Dundee was a great missed opportunity.”
James Thomson is responsible for other such beautiful buildings that still stand today such as Coldside Library, Blackness Library and St. Roque’s Reading Rooms.
The plans for the Civic Building and the waterfront of Dundee as well as more information about them can be found on the Dundee city archives website.
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