This year, the Space Dundee office enters its 20th year, and I’ve been reflecting back on the changes I’ve seen in Dundee over the years. I moved here over 30 years ago to study Interior Design at DJCAD and I’ve never looked back. Is Dundee the most progressive city in the UK? I think it is. It’s a great place to live and work, and it’s been exciting to watch how the city has spent the investment to bring dying or unused places back to life.
When I think about all this change in Dundee, the waterfront development and its impressive new V&A Museum naturally springs to mind. But it’s the ongoing development and investment in places across the city that make Dundee’s approach so special. Like Site 6, the substantial 50,000 square foot office development opposite the V&A, and the Wellgate Shopping Centre, which is being transformed into a college. There’s also the repurposing of the old bingo hall into the new LiveHouse event venue, the recently completed BT building, and the launch of the new state-of-the-art CoSTAR Realtime Lab connecting world leading technology, academia, games and film.
While the V&A might be the city’s most recognisable new landmark, the upcoming Eden Project is going to be a standout development on the waterfront. It’s an ambitious project, aimed at turning brownfield sites into inspiring new spaces that encourage green tourism. All of these projects demonstrate how the city is buzzing with revitalisation.
A different approach to development
Dundee seems to operate differently from Scotland’s larger cities. Here, businesses don’t simply move from one office to the next shiny new development. The focus is on improving the quality of spaces and revitalising areas that genuinely need development rather than rapid expansion. It’s an approach that feels true to Dundee—a city with strong foundations in education, research, medicine, and technology. A place that’s evolving without losing its identity.
The big question remains though: where will all the people come from to fill these new and repurposed spaces? While Dundee continues to attract interest and investment, it doesn’t yet have the same influx of new companies that larger Scottish cities enjoy. Nevertheless, the city’s on the right track. By focusing on quality and repurposing, Dundee is moving forward at a sustainable, progressive pace. And in that regard, Dundee offers something truly special—a city that’s improving not just its buildings, but its entire approach to urban development.
For those of us in the business of workplace design and transformation, Dundee is an ideal canvas. A city that understands that meaningful development isn’t just about constructing buildings, but about creating environments where people and businesses can thrive.
