YMCA Gymnasium, 151 Brook Street, Broughty Ferry, Dundee

This is a large, rectangular gymnasium built in 1893 for the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), designed by George MacLaren of James McLaren and Sons. Constructed of red and ochre brick, it features a slate roof with terracotta ridge tiles. Cream brick dressings and pilasters are present on the south and east elevations, along with a lean-to extension at the north end, which has a jerkin-head roof with dormers.

The south elevation includes an advanced, gabled entrance porch centrally positioned, and a rainwater pipe with decorative brackets on the right-hand side. The east elevation features a gauged brick decorative panel at its centre, inscribed “the gift of Alexander Jefferson Buist, Esq, president 1893”.

The interior retains many original features, including a timber hardwood floor, a painted boarded dado, and a lined waggon roof with simple traceried collar braces.

The building was funded by Alexander Jefferson Buist, who was president of the Broughty Ferry YMCA association, and the inaugural event was held on December 26, 1893. The YMCA, founded in London in 1844, had been established in Scotland by 1848. The Broughty Ferry YMCA was founded in 1866. Drawings dated March 1893 exist in the Dean of Guild records. This gymnasium is distinct from the larger YMCA building at the same address (listed separately as LB25766).