City Chambers, City Square, Dundee

This is an inter-war classical building located at 24 High Street, Dundee, designed by Sir John James Burnet and constructed in 1931–3, with some simplifications by J McLellan Brown. It is built of polished Leoch ashlar stone, with Creetown granite used for detailing on the lower levels. The main block is four storeys high, with shops at basement level on Crichton Street.

The front elevation, facing the Square, is symmetrical, featuring an advanced five-bay centre. This section has a granite ground-floor arcade with a blue and gold mosaic vaulted ceiling. Tall windows for the council chamber have channel-jointed surrounds rising through the first and second storeys. A central balcony is supported by a cantilever bracket with an apron of bas reliefs. There’s a continuous cantilevered balcony at the third floor, with prow corbels in the centre bay. A mutuled cornice runs along the top, followed by a low pavilion roof with three dormers. The flanking stairhall sections have tripartite windows, and the five-window wings have their first and second-floor windows vertically linked. A prominent cornice sits between the second and third floors. Shops retain original detail on both wings and either side of the council suite entrance within the arcade.

A single-storey link connects to Caird Hall, set back to the far left, with a connecting stair pend leading to Crichton Street. The front to High Street has three bays, featuring Ionic pilasters, and concave angled bays containing ground-floor quadrants. The Crichton Street frontage has a tripartite centrepiece with an advanced section, a giant splayed and keyblocked arch with balcony features, and flanking bays using a three-light mullioned grid. The flanking wings have a similar treatment to the Square frontage, but the ground-floor windows are simpler, with architraves and segmental pediments at the second and sixth bays. A three-storey link to Caird Hall is positioned on the right, with a slightly advanced centre bay containing an entrance to a stepped pend leading to City Square. Steep, platformed, slated roofs are present throughout. The windows are steel-framed with T-pattern glazing, and the shops have bronze frames which retain original details including awnings and lettering, notably at number 8 Wallace, displayed in Hoptonwood marble surrounds.

The interior features a marble-lined staircase with wrought-iron balusters and stained glass by Alex Russell, leading to the first-floor Council Suite. The Council Chamber has walnut wall panels, decorative bronze radiator grilles, a cut glass chandelier re-formed from the original Town House chandeliers, and stained glass by Alex Russell depicting events in Dundee's history.