April 23 2021

Plans for a major office-led development in Dundee have emerged at the hands of Haus Collective, who have been briefed to deliver a 75,000sq/ft office block alongside 16 apartments.

Both elements will be delivered as two separate buildings rising above a continuous parade of ground floor commercial units. Led by Ayr-based Crucible Alba Group Greenmarket Dundee will rise on a 0.9ha car park in Seabraes, close to the city's main train station, to create a landmark development that helps to re-establish a streetscape and a visual link to the emerging waterfront masterplan.

Outlining their chosen approach Haus wrote: "The building is designed as a pavilion that can be viewed in the round but integrated within the urban grain through a sensitive approach to massing, activated ground floor retail frontage along West Marketgait and the 5 storey residential / office building that addresses the delicate junction between historic Nethergate and West Marketgait.

"The public realm is carefully designed to provide useful external space supporting the proposed ground-floor retail active frontage, addressing the challenging topography at the corner of West Marketgait / Greenmarket and provides the setting for the new development."

The office section of the build will employ a masonry finish with lightweight metal cladding to the upper floors while its residential neighbour takes its cue from a B-listed Nethergate building with a recessed facade and defined pend access maintaining uninterrupted views of its stone detailing.

12 Comments

#1 Posted by mick on 23 Apr 2021 at 11:42 AM

This challenging site deserves more than this proposed palette of anaemic transferable architectural clichés.

#2 Posted by RankieLass on 23 Apr 2021 at 12:10 PM

I'm sorry but is half of Dundee city centre not currently sitting empty?

#3 Posted by Zzzz on 23 Apr 2021 at 14:06 PM

So so bland....this scheme would put you to sleep.

#4 Posted by Designer on 23 Apr 2021 at 14:39 PM

Grim

#5 Posted by DundeeTech on 24 Apr 2021 at 05:41 AM

"#2 Posted by RankieLass on 23 Apr 2021 at 12:10 PM
I'm sorry but is half of Dundee city centre not currently sitting empty?"

No. There actually isn't much grade A office space available at all.

#6 Posted by Auntie Nairn on 24 Apr 2021 at 22:57 PM

None of it's great, but that corner in image #1 is particularly poor

#7 Posted by town planner on 25 Apr 2021 at 17:10 PM

Another Scottish groundscraper...

#8 Posted by RankieLass on 26 Apr 2021 at 14:58 PM

#5 I didn't mention Grade A office space. A relatively recent student research project demonstrated that the proposed new build office accommodation could all be accommodated with the existing vacant building stock, more difficult for institutional investors but better for a working city centre.

#9 Posted by dundee worthy on 26 Apr 2021 at 15:45 PM

What a load of tosh architectural speak to try to justify a mundane "it could be anywhere" building. Agree with RankieLass - efforts should concentrate on the city centre.

#10 Posted by Robin B's Discount on 27 Apr 2021 at 12:01 PM

Dundee worthy and RankieLass - I'd imagine the economical viability might be a key factor in why they are developing in this location rather than in existing buildings in the city centre. Perhaps worth considering when funding your utopia vision of Dundee....

#11 Posted by RankieLass on 27 Apr 2021 at 14:04 PM

#10 Dundee of all cities should know the cost of short sighted investment and the importance of decent planning policy. Is there a proposed solution for the city centre or don't they care?

#12 Posted by MV on 28 Apr 2021 at 17:15 PM

It’s really poor from a design perspective, given that "creativity is a preoccupation" for them. They are so preoccupied with creativity that they forgot to design the corner. The rest of it is copy and paste.
However, it will be good to have that stretch of road developed as it is a bit of an eyesore at the moment.

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