Something in the City: Design and culture in Dundee

Case Study - High Mill At Verdant Works

Client - Dundee Heritage Trust
Architect - Doug Reid of James F Stephen Architects of Glamis
Interior Designer - Campbell & Co of Edinburgh
Cost - £2.3m including VAT
Completion - September 2015

Dundee Heritage Trust’s major £2.9m project, the High Mill Open Gallery at Verdant Works, was completed in September 2015 to great public and critical acclaim, adding a dramatic new wing to the existing Verdant Works Jute Museum. Until relatively recently, this stunning ‘A’ listed building, a former textile mill from Dundee’s glory days as the centre of jute export, was on the Buildings at Risk Register. But the sympathetic restoration has stripped back rotten timbers and maximised the robust frame and scale of the building to create a cathedral-like space. The Trust worked with a skilled professional team of curators, architects, designers, engineers and contractors to produce an innovative scheme for the High Mill and Glazed Alley.

Opening up these new areas to the public has almost doubled the size of the museum, and added a fascinating element to the jute story, majoring on engineering – complete with a conserved and reconditioned 1801 Boulton & Watt beam engine. This enhances the venue’s appeal to schools’ visits, enriching as it does the engineering and technology curriculum. A large events space creates opportunities for exhibitions on a totally different scale. The Mill was large enough for example to host the recent Great Tapestry of Scotland exhibition in the spring of this year, bringing in thousands of additional visitors to the museum. Everything from engineering to music is in the outreach and events programme. Recent activities include: the Young Engineers Club for teenagers; ‘Music in the Mill’ lunchtime concerts; a gin school; author readings, and the Museums at Night event that saw light, projections and soundscapes.

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