All sites are now available for development. Contact info@dundeewaterfront.com for further information.
Dundee Waterfront demonstrates the outcomes that city planning can achieve when it is ambitious and well executed. This development is progressing rapidly. Planning authorities across the country can look to it as an example of effective delivery. Plans for the waterfront support several of our objectives, including: regeneration, high quality placemaking, improvements to the public realm, better connections, and support for the low carbon economy. We look forward to seeing further significant progress within the lifetime of NPF3.
Implementation Lead(s): Dundee City Council
Locations: Dundee Waterfront and new transport and communications to it.
Further reading:
Dundee Waterfront:
Dundee Local Development Plan
Environmental Mitigation:
Continuing masterplanning to take into account environmental impacts. Proposals, particularly those that may require land reclamation, affecting the Firth of Tay and Eden Estuary SAC and SPA will require an Appropriate Assessment. Co-ordinated approach to consenting will help to identify and mitigate cumulative effects. Mitigation included in the Habitats Regulations Appraisal Record should be used to inform planning processes and be applied as appropriate.
National Planning Framework 3 Strategic Environmental Assessment (as updated)
National Planning Framework 3 Habitats Regulation Appraisal
Ongoing Activity and Milestones:
January 2014 – Within the Seabraes Yards – The first building of District 10 is opened. Constructed from recycled shipping containers, this office block is providing high quality accommodation for creative industries and related small businesses.
February 2014 – The Malmaison Hotel opens after the extensive refurbishment of a Category B listed building which overlooks the Central Waterfront Development area
February 2014 – Construction work begins at the central open space – this main parkland area will extend to some 10,738 square metres and is designed to be a multi-functional space with capacity to host large events. Construction work will include road and drainage infrastructure works and is scheduled for completion in early 2016.
September 2014 – Contractor identified for V&A Museum of Design Dundee.
September 2014 – Apex Hotels purchase the historic Port Of Dundee Customs House
November 2014 – District 10 at Seabraes Yards – The first commercial building constructed from shipping containers in Scotland, achieved a clean sweep of the Dundee Institute of Architects Awards. In winning the Supreme Award the project will qualify for entry into the RIAS Andrew Doolan Best Building Award next year, which is the largest Architectural prize in the UK.
November 2014 – Construction of the northern boulevard is completed
December 2014 – Dundee has been named as the UK’s first City of Design by the United Nations. The city has been recognised by Unesco for its diverse contributions to fields including medical research, comics and video games. The City of Design designation has previously been awarded to twelve cities, including Beijing, Berlin and Montreal. Dundee was added to the Unesco grouping of “creative cities” alongside European cities Turin, Helsinki, Bilbao and Curitiba in Brazil.
January 2015 – The names for the newly constructed roads and public spaces are revealed. Dundee industrial heritage and significant individuals and institutions from times past will be celebrated in street and place names for the city’s waterfront. New open spaces and footpaths are among the sites named after local figures and institutions including missionary Mary Slessor, visionary city planner James Thomson and the Black Watch. Other streets have been named in honour of the area’s shipbuilding and industrial heritage.
January 2015 – The Dundee Waterfront website (www.dundeewaterfront.com) is relaunched with a new design which improves project information and links with the social media promotional work. A responsive design allows the site to be better viewed from mobile and handheld devices
January 2015 – The Scottish Government has pledged an additional £10 million towards the construction of the V&A Museum of Design Dundee, increasing its capital contribution towards the project to £25 million.
February 2015 – Riverside Apartments – phase one of this residential development at Riverside Drive nears completion with the first apartments now released for sale.
March 2015 – V&A Museum of Design Construction starts: 5 March 2015 – ‘A ‘ground-breaking’ ceremony on the V&A Museum of Design Dundee’s waterfront site marked the formal start of construction work. The building is expected to be complete by the end of 2017 with internal works thereafter, opening to the public in summer 2018.
March 2015 – Dundee City Council and contractors Sir Robert McAlpine have been awarded an Infrastructure Sustainability CEEQUAL Excellent Award for work at the waterfront.
April 2015 – Seabraes bridge is lifted into place over the East Coast Railway Line. When complete this bridge, located at Seabraes, will provide another connection between the city and the waterfront – a key aim of the original waterfront masterplan. Scheduled to open mid-June 2015
May 2015 – V&A Museum of Design – The cofferdam in the river Tay is completed on schedule. This temporary dam enables the physical construction works to continue as scheduled.
June 2015 – Engagement with the City’s youth community continues with schoolchildren participating in “planning youth camp” which will allow them to build their own version of the waterfront development using the highly popular Minecraft computer game.
June 2015 – Seabraes Pedestrian Bridge opens to the public. This £3.5m pedestrian and cycle bridge over the railway line opens up a link from the West End and the Dundee University campus with the riverside and the 26 mile green circular cycle route. The bridge cuts out a 1.5km (0.9 mile) detour around the railway line which previously separated the areas. Funding for the bridge was sourced from the Scottish Government’s Vacant and Derelict Land Fund, Sustrans, Dundee City Council and Scottish Enterprise.
The 54m bridge will have a formal opening ceremony with the Scottish Government transport minister later in the year.
July 2015 – Dundee Waterfront Interactive Tour app launched. This app allows you to explore the Dundee Central Waterfront on your tablet or smartphone by taking a 360 degree panoramic tour around the Central Waterfront and explote inside the V&A Museum of Design Dundee. http://www.dundeewaterfront.com/interactive
August 2015 – Dundee City Council has published guidance that will provide the design framework for the new buildings in the Central Waterfront. This guidance includes a Planning and Urban Design Framework; Development Briefs for each of the eight sites; Strategic Infrastruure Information; and site specific infrastructure information.
The guides will provide planning, design and infrastructure guidance for the Central Waterfront area and for each individual site and will steer investors, developers and their advisers in the design of the building projects. The objective is to encourage sustainable, design-led development that reflects Dundee’s status as the UK’s first UNESCO City of Design.
The Dundee Central Waterfront Planning and Design Guidance for each site can be downloaded or via the 3d app which allows users to navigate through the various development sites.
October 2015 – Dundee Railway Station
Work has commenced on the construction of the new station concourse, ticketing facilities, as well as a café/restaurant and retail space. A new 120 bedroom hotel operated by Sleeperz Hotels will also be accommodated on three floors above the new concourse. The project will be over the live railway with normal train services continuing during the work which is expected to be completed in just over two years in time for the opening of the V&A Museum of Design.
Level of Investment and Early Outcomes
More than £75m has already been invested in infrastructure at Dundee Waterfront, bringing with it massive community benefits. In just 18 months from January 2014 almost £4m has been spent locally with local contractors undertaking major packages of activity at the site. In the same period 58% of labour at the waterfront was from the local area and seven new employment opportunities have been created and filled by people who were previously unemployed or in training.
November 2015 – Waterfront tops £600m of committed investment: The latest round of committed investments include the new Dundee railway station, hotel and retail development; new Hilton Hampton hotel; the H&H Properties residential development; new pedestrian bridge and office developments in the Seabraes creative site; creation of a marina and upgrade of lock gates, expansion of Dundee Science Centre and funding of the V&A Museum of Design, Dundee.
February 2016 – Waterfront’s Major Milestone: Road Openings: After two years of work, on time and on budget, the grid pattern of streets and accompanying pavements will become operational for the first time. Contractors, Sir Robert McAlpine were responsible for the £11m creation of Thomson Avenue, Riverside Esplanade, Earl Grey Place (East and West), Patent Slip Way, Whalers Way, Black Watch Parade, Waterfront Place, Discovery Plaza and Slessor Gardens.
February 2016 – Development partners announced for Site 2 and Site 6.
Our Enterprise is the City Council’s preferred development partner for a £20 million investment in Dundee Waterfront. The development of Site 2 will create a new city square with the Malmaison, and focus on a new ‘Design and Innovation Quarter’ for the city, inspired by the arrival of the V&A museum. The development includes ground floor Design, Make and Sell’ units to attract creative businesses to showcase the best of Scottish design. Upper floors will contain apartments geared to providing high quality city-centre living. This will retain Dundee’s graduate and entrepreneurial talent, attract creative industries and create employment and living opportunities.
Robertson has been chosen as preferred developer for a £40million development of flats, premium office space and hotel on Site 6. Located immediately north of the V&A Museum of Design and opposite the new entrance to Dundee’s rail station, the development will see the construction of 67 flats for the private rented sector and 50,000sq ft of Grade A office space, with the 120-bed hotel to be aimed at the upper end of the visitor market.
February 2016 – Dundee Waterfront Secures £63 million Growth Accelerator Model funding: The Scottish Government will invest up to £63.8 million in Dundee’s Waterfront, as part of a package of funding from the Growth Accelerator model (GA). Funding is linked to the delivery of agreed outcomes and will be targeted towards improvements to Dundee railway station concourse, development of the V&A and ensuring the Waterfront boasts world class digital infrastructure. 4,500 square metres of Grade A office space will also be developed alongside improvements to civic spaces.
April 2016 – Planning permission granted for a 149 bedroom hotel to replace the existing Premier Inn at Discovery Point.
Planning permission granted for a mixed use office and leisure development at City Quay, adjacent to the proposed marina.
May 2016 – A new pedestrianised street (Whalers Lane) is now open and now offers a traffic-free route between the Tay Road Bridge (National Cycle Network Routes 1 and 77) and the existing centre of Dundee.
July 2016 – HM The Queen opened Slessor Gardens and toured the nine themed pocket parks that have been created around the perimeter of this new public space.
November 2016
The Developer Information Packs , which accompany all development sites in the area win at the Scottish Awards for Quality in Planning.
Proposal of application notices have been received for mixed use developments at two of the new development sites whilst dialogue is continuing with potential developers of other sites.
January 2017
Work continues on schedule with the development of the replacement Railway Station and hotel development.
Construction has started on a 149-bed Premier Inn hotel located to the west of the Discovery point tourist attraction.
Construction has started on a mixed office and leisure development at Shed 25 to be named Water’s Edge in the City Quay area adjacent to the site of the proposed marina. Entrepreneur Chris van der Kuyl and business partner Paddy Burns, the Dundee duo behind the global Minecraft phenomenon, have broken ground on the multi-million-pound building project to revitalise the former dockside warehouse. The development which will provide a new home for their software company 4J Studios and will also have space for 10 other businesses.
May 2017: A planning application is submitted for a mixed use development at Site 2, comprising residential, office and workspace.
June 2017: Planning permission is granted for a mixed use development comprising: Hotel, Office, residential and active ground floor uses (retail/food & drink) at Site 6
June / July 2017: Slessor Gardens, the multi-purpose open space in the centre of the Waterfront, hosts concerts by UB40, Level 42 and Little Mix over the summer
July 2017: construction begins at a new wakeboarding centre in the City Quay zone. Supported by the Scottish Government’s Regeneration Capital Grant Fund, the centre obtained planning permission in April 2017 and is expected to be operational in late summer.
Autumn/Winter 2017: The wakeboarding centre in City Quay becomes operational. A new visitor welcome building is constructed at the Frigate Unicorn visitor attraction. The conversion of Lower Dens mill into a 102 bed hotel and 81 serviced apartments progresses with a view to opening in 2018
Spring 2018: Construction has started at site 6: Creating two ground floor retail/leisure units with offices above as a first phase of a mixed-use development.
Summer – Winter 2018: A new Railway Station and Hotel opened in July. The V&A Dundee opened in September with strong visitor numbers exceeding expectations.
Dundee Central Waterfront Development Sites
Sites are now available for development. Contact info@dundeewaterfront.com for further information.
National Planning Framework 3 Action Programme 