Since my younger son is now living in Dundee I’ve become even more acquainted with that city. This building is quite close to his flat and I came across it as I was making my way home after moving him in. Next time I took the camera but it was getting late and quite dark when these pictures were taken.

Here is a close up of the central entrance.

There is interplay between horizontal and vertical so typical of Deco buildings but not much by way of extravagant flourish.

I thought it must have been a mill at one time. It had obviously recently been converted to flats, though.

I’ve just discovered it was formerly known as Lilybank Works and the “distinctive chamfered corner and recessed entrance” dates from 1949, very late for Deco styling.

Also called the Taybank Works it was the last of Dundee’s jute mills. There is a photo here of the building still sporting a Tay Spinners Ltd sign. The new Taybank works apparently replaced Lilybank Foundry after the Second World War.

Of the jam, jute and journalism, for which Dundee used to be famed, what is there now left?

This is the building I fortuitously came across while strolling through Dundee last June. It houses Robertson’s Furnishings whose address is given as 56, Barrack Street despite the building being located on the corner where Barrack Street verges onto Bank Street and Willis Street. The picture is from Willis Street.

Here’s the Barrack Street aspect, showing some nice columnar detailing. The stone cladding needs some attention.

There is some detailing between the windows above the corner entrance.

This is the ornamentation on the roof line.

Not a bad thing to find tucked away in a Dundee back street.

Two more Art Deco buildings in Dundee’s Murraygate.

First is Marks And Spencer’s, right out of the Art Deco period.

The second is now under the Topshop/Topman umbrella but was formerly a Burton’s.

Compare the style with the Burton’s in Kirkcaldy. See another view of this Dundee building here.

Lots more Burton’s buildings are pictured in this collection.

As promised, more pictures of my stroll round Dundee.

The top floors of this building are now filled by a JJB Sports and the ground floor has a Tesco Metro.

From the styling it looks to me as if it originally was a Woolworths but I’ve not sufficient knowledge of Dundee to be sure of that. I couldn’t get far enough back across the street to frame the whole building.

There are some nice flourishes around the windows.

There are four identical embellishments on the roof edge. Some of them are sprouting plants.

The building next to this (housing an Evans) has a clocktower that is obviously Deco influenced but must be much more recent.

There is another Murraygate view here of this possible Dundee Woolworths.

The first one is of course of the most striking example of the form in the city. Even if it’s a travesty of its former glory you can’t miss the tower.

Green’s Playhouse was erected in the Nethergate in 1936 as a cinema but has now been converted (rather obviously) to a bingo Hall.

The following is from the Theatres Trust website.
“A large ‘super-cinema’ – second only in the UK in size to Green’s Playhouse in Glasgow (1927) – by John Fairweather. The lavish interior was by John Alexander, with Art Deco foyer and restaurant, and the auditorium, with Corinthian columns and piers marching down the side walls, was described as an ‘outstanding and enormous Classical/Art Deco theatre’. It was said to have set ‘standards of luxury unrivalled anywhere else in Scotland’. The exterior was dominated by a 25m lattice steel neon advertising tower, later clad with sheet metal. Bingo and other uses from 1967 until a devastating fire in 1995. The remains were deemed to be dangerous and demolition followed, although the tower survived and is listed (Category B).”

The Scottish cinemas website has some stonking old pictures of the Playhouse in its heyday, including a few of postcards that were made of the exterior, the foyer and Sunshine Café; not to mention of the management and staff! Those were the days. Some of the plans are shown there too.

The building was certainly much classier then than it is now.

Here are the external lighting cylinders in close up.

There’s a photo here of the cylinders with their tips lit up.