Middle Block, 8 Tait's Lane, Dundee

The Middle Block at 8 Tait’s Lane, Dundee, is a circa 1860, three-storey tenement building of a simple design, divided into three blocks and providing a total of 18 flats. It is constructed of rubble and features pletties (balconies).

The South elevation showcases two free-standing, semi-circular stair towers providing access to the first and second-floor flats via the pletties. These balconies are stone-flagged and supported by narrow steel structures and feature wrought-iron railings. A western stair serves a single tenement, which contains two flats per pletty. The entrance to each flat is via paired doors, flanked on each side by a narrow slit window and a larger main window. The eastern stair serves a double tenement, accommodating four flats per pletty, with windows arranged in a 1-2-1, 1-2-1 pattern between the doors, accompanied by adjacent slit windows.

The North elevation presents a twelve-window front. The western tenement features paired central slit windows and two single-light windows. The eastern and central tenements have windows grouped in pairs between tall centre wallhead stacks. The west gable has off-centre single-light windows and a blocked ground-floor door. The roof is slate-covered with gable end, ridge, and wallhead stacks. The windows are largely 4-pane sash and case, although some have been altered.

The building is notable as one of the least altered examples of a mid-Victorian Dundee tenement, retaining its original stacks and lacking later water closet towers. It demonstrates characteristic features of Dundee tenements with “pletties” or “platties”.