Screen Wall, Dundee Sheriff Court

Dundee Sheriff Court, located on Bell Street, is a classical court building completed in 1863, designed by William Scott based on an earlier design by George Angus from 1833. The building features a prominent Roman Doric portico with a sculpture of royal arms in the tympanum, situated on elevated ground at the head of Court House Square in Dundee. It is constructed of polished sandstone ashlar and has steps flanking the portico. The entrance includes a 2-leaf panelled and studded door with a consoled and pedimented moulded door piece. The façade is enhanced by a moulded cill course and string course, with bays and angles marked by Giant Order Doric pilasters. The first floor has moulded round-headed windows, and there is a corniced entablature with a blocking course. The building includes 2-bay, single-storey outer wings and a 2-storey Courtroom wing at the rear, which features round-headed windows and a louvered ventilator-cupola.

To the east, there is an earlier 2-storey, 3-bay classical pavilion from 1833, built of grey ashlar and connected to the main block by a 3-bay screen wall. The pavilion has an impost course at the first floor and a concealed piended grey slate roof. The screen wall continues as a 5-bay curtain wall with a round-headed glazed opening, which used to lead to former prison blocks at the rear, flanked by two decorative bracketed lamps.

The interior was last seen in 2014. Courtroom 1 features a fine compartmented ceiling with ornate plasterwork and a gallery to the south supported by narrow fluted cast-iron columns. The woodwork is grained, and there is timber panelling throughout. A consoled canopy is positioned over the judicial bench to the north, and the sheriff principal chambers include a marble chimneypiece. Additional details include moulded architraves, some decorative ceiling plasterwork, and cast iron panel balusters. Alterations and additions have been made over the years, including district court infill by Gauldie, Wright and Partners in 1979 and by Nicoll Russell Studios from 1993 to 1996, which are not considered of special interest in listing terms.