A fine Classical building in West Bell Street, just to the northwest of the city centre, Dundee Sheriff Court sits conveniently in front of the headquarters of the Tayside Division of Police Scotland. The building was designed by Edinburgh-based architect George Angus in 1833, but only the east pavilion was built due to restricted funds. The scheme was completed in 1863 by Dundee's Town Architect William Scott, creating the two-storey principal courthouse building with its prominent tetrastyle Roman Doric portico. The building was A-listed in 1965. A western pavilion was demolished in 1974, upsetting the symmetry of the building, and a new court created behind the facade of the eastern pavilion in 1979-81. Local architects Nicoll Russell Studios refurbished and extended the court between 1993 and 1996, with an official re-opening by HRH The Princess Royal the following year. This award-winning work involved a sympathetic extension behind the western curtain wall and cost £3.7 million. Now operated by the Scottish Court Service, the building now has three jury courtrooms, a civil courtroom and an appeal court, together with Sheriffs' chambers, jury rooms and support accommodation for criminal and civil business. Inside some decorative plasterwork has been retained, along with a coffered ceiling and grained woodwork in Court No. 1, which retains much of its original character. A Justice of the Peace Court (formerly known as the District Court) is attached to the Sheriff Court building.
