Plans submitted for ‘urban beach’ at Dundee Waterfront

The ongoing regeneration of Dundee’s waterfront is set to be complemented by an area of parkland, café and water features under new proposals submitted to the city council.

Set in an area next to the £80.1 million V&A design museum, the ‘urban beach’ will create a new promenade along the River Tay.

Landscape architects Optimised Environments said the site, called Waterfront Place, will see a cafe pavilion nestled amongst grassy mounds and will not compete with the Kengo Kuma-designed museum.

The design statement states: “The aspiration is to create a new piece of public urban realm, a destination, but on approach from the city centre, passing through Slessor Gardens, the visual



journey wants to be one from manicured garden to a take on more naturalistic coastal forms and then on out over the Tay and to the far shore beyond.

“Buildings are desired as part of the brief, but it feels appropriate that whilst they should be prominent, accessible and welcoming they should in no way compete visually with the set piece that is the new V&A museum.

“The solution of designing landscape and buildings as one in the form of a stylized coastal dunescape achieves all of these aspirations.”

As well as sand-dunes, pine trees will also form part of the development in order to mimic the approach to beaches found elsewhere in Scotland.



The statement added: “Along the east coast of Scotland, the walk to the beach is typified by moving through meadow grassland, into pine forest, on through marram grass dunes and finally onto the beach.”

The urban beach is one of the final pieces of Dundee City Council’s masterplan for the waterfront.

Last month it was revealed an AC Marriott Hotel will occupy the prime site opposite the V&A as part of a mixed-use development including offices and apartments.

Dundee City Council will have to approve the plans before construction work on the site can start.


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