Dumfries architecture: Galloway buildings, Scotland

Dumfries Architecture: Buildings News

post updated 4 June 2026

3 June 2026

8 English Street Building News

The 8 English Street building with the hoarding removed:

photo © Adrian Welch

Dumfries Town Board (DTB) report on their facebook page that the front of the 8 English Street building (windows and doors) are now secure and the front has been swept up.
The former Union Bank would have had stores in the basement, business rooms at ground level and above this would have been family accommodation.

8 English Street in Dumfries (DG1 2BT) is a prominent Category B listed property that formerly housed the Bank of Scotland and originally opened in the 1870s as the Union Bank of Scotland. Situated in the heart of the town centre, the building is a striking example of red sandstone architecture designed in the Italianate and Renaissance Revival styles, and is regarded as one of the region’s finest historic structures.

Although currently vacant and in a dilapidated condition, the property has been the focus of recent clean-up and improvement efforts by the Dumfries Town Board and Dumfries and Galloway Council, aimed at securing the site, clearing its frontage, and enhancing the appearance of the town centre. The building benefits from Class 3 planning consent and has been marketed as a distinctive opportunity for retail, office, or restaurant use.

DTB are also looking into what they can do to clear up the front of the old factory shop building in Irish Street.

24 May 2026

The Linen Bank, Dumfries

A former bank and originally a restaurant on Queensbury Street in Dumfries town centre is the focus of a new commission for Creetown Initiative.

The former Linen Bank in Dumfries is a five-storey B-listed building, most recently owned by Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Housing Services. It has been identified by the not-for-profit organisation The Guild as a potential home for a new community-led initiative.

The Guild aims to support makers, producers, crafters, and artists across Dumfries and Galloway by developing a dedicated creative hub within the building. The proposed multi-purpose space would include studios, workshops, retail and office areas, and potentially a café, all designed to foster creativity, collaboration, and community inclusion. At its core, the project seeks to establish a permanent place where people can meet, learn, create, and thrive.

Creetown Initiative is currently undertaking a feasibility study to explore future options for The Linen Bank. The study will assess the viability of The Guild acquiring the building through an asset transfer from Dumfries and Galloway Council, and its potential redevelopment as a shared creative workspace for members of The Guild and other creative practitioners, both individuals and organisations.

3 March 2026
Catherinefield Farm Housing, Dumfries and Galloway, southwest Scotland, UK.
Design: Collective Architecture

image : Collective Architecture
Catherinefield Farm Housing

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Architectural Designs in Dumfries & Galloway, UK. Southern Scotland properties updates.

12 August 2025
Dumfries Building Photos

Moat Brae House building:

photos © Adrian Welch

Moat Brae House garden cafe:

Dumfries historic building:

Dumfries historic property:

High Street fountain:

19 March 2025
The Laundry Building News

Merrick House renewal, Crichton Estate

Design: O’DonnellBrown, in collaboration with White Arkitekter of Sweden

Scottish Women’s Institutes and The Crichton Trust have announced plans for ‘The Laundry’, a nationally significant Visitor Learning Centre that will become a global hub for crafts, heritage, and skills and showcase the rich history of rural Scotland.

The Laundry Crichton Memorial Church Dumfries building:

photo © Isabelle Lomholt

More than 40 supporters, funders, and investors met on The Crichton Estate to discuss the unique collaboration, in early March, to explore architectural plans and visit the site of what will be the new home for The Crichton and SWI story, which will bring educational and social activities, jobs, and opportunities to the region.

Merrick House, Crichton Estate building:

photo © Isabelle Lomholt

The Laundry is an existing building (Merrick House) on the 85-acre Crichton Estate near Dumfries that will undergo a £15 million deep retrofit transformation into exhibition galleries, shared education, workshops, meeting and study spaces, a cake café and shop, and research facilities. It will also become the SWI’s national office as the organisation relocates from the Central Belt for the first time.

Merrick House on the Crichton Estate:

photo © Isabelle Lomholt

Glasgow-based architecture practice O’DonnellBrown, in collaboration with White Arkitekter, is leading on the ground-breaking redevelopment. It will see the 1960s utilitarian NHS laundry building repurposed to house the collections of SWI and the former Crichton Royal Hospital and provide research access in partnership with Dumfries and Galloway Council Heritage Service to their respective significant international archives. Their recent work has been supported by funding of £100,000 from the South of Scotland Enterprise and, previously, the UK Community Renewal Fund.

Crichton Memorial Church Dumfries building:

photo © Isabelle Lomholt

At the heart of the collaboration will be nationally and internationally important archives and artefacts of both the SWI and The Crichton, which will foster a comprehensive understanding of Scottish lives over the past century, with shared touch points revealing the untold stories of women in rural Scotland, women’s leadership and activism. The National Lottery Heritage Fund awarded £127,125 in November 2024 for the initial phase of the SWI Heritage Project to create exhibition-ready collections.

Easterbrook Hall Dumfries Crichton Estate building:

photo © Isabelle Lomholt

The Laundry will deliver a unique venue for both collections and organisations and will create an exceptional resource to explore, discuss, and discover how women shaped and continue to shape rural Scotland. It will celebrate the power of people, place, creativity, and community to support health and well-being, learning from two very different parallel stories. It will connect people, place, and the past to shape the future.
source: Third Sector Dumfries and Galloway on facebook. Content requested from the two architect firms.

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Dumfries & Galloway Building News

Southwest Scotland property developments

23 Sep 2023
Dumfries High School Building News
hub South West has appointed Morgan Sindall Construction as construction partner with Ryder Architecture leading the design of the new school. Turner & Townsend have been appointed to deliver full cost management, project management and principal designer services for the project and Woolgar Hunter will lead on civil and structural engineering elements of the new school:
Dumfries High School Building News

More contemporary Dumfries architecture designs on e-architect soon.

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Dumfries Architecture 2019 – 2022

17 June 2022
Dumfries Architectural Photos

J.B. Stevenson & Jeffrey Ltd. ruined building, awaiting renewal

photo © Adrian Welch

Troqueer Parish Church, 58 Troqueer Rd, DG2 7DF

photo © Adrian Welch

10 May 2022
Dumfries Architecture Photos

The Dumfries Suspension Bridge is a suspension pedestrian bridge that was completed in 1875:

photograph © Adrian Welch

Midsteeple, an 18th century town-house used for many purposes over the centuries, including as a prison, council house and clerk’s chamber:

photo © Adrian Welch

Dumfries High Street buildings at the junction with English Street, with a fountain at the nexus:

photo © Adrian Welch

5 Apr 2022
Dumfries and Galloway Council appoints hub Southwest to deliver the new Dumfries High School

Dumfries and Galloway Council has appointed hub Southwest Scotland, the construction and infrastructure-focused partnership which works with local authorities and private sector enterprises in Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway, to develop the new Dumfries High School in southern Scotland.

New Dumfries High School building:

image courtesy of architects practice

One of 25 projects selected as part of Phase 2 of the Scottish Government’s Learning Estate Investment Programme (LEIP), the new school will accommodate a school roll of 796 pupils with construction on the existing site.

The project will deliver enhanced Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) learning, embedded within the curricular offering and facilities shaped to support this and enhance the pupil experience.

Teacher training will also be a focus, allowing opportunities for new and aspiring teachers and educationalists to develop their skills in spaces design to support their development and growth, within a real school environment. In addition, the new Dumfries High School will continue to deliver enhanced sports and PE facilities.

Gillian Brydson, Director Skills, Education and Learning for Dumfries and Galloway Council said: “Dumfries High School is already at the heart of its community – our values of ambition and respect underpin our work to achieve the highest standards in all educational experiences.

“This investment is an important step in providing a positive learning environment for each and every learner at Dumfries High School and supports the wider ambitions of Dumfries Learning Town.”

Neil McIntyre, Project Management Lead for Phase 2 of Dumfries Learning Town at Dumfries and Galloway Council, said: “The new Dumfries High School will be recognised as a landmark community investment which will enhance the learning experience of our young people and will be also a beacon of community sports and leisure activity.”

hub Southwest CEO Michael Ross:

Chief Executive of hub Southwest, Michael Ross, said: “We are delighted to deliver this exciting new project for Dumfries and Galloway Council as its development partner and to continue our partnership with the authority.

“Following completion of the tender process that is currently underway, we expect to announce the appointment of the wider team in the coming months.

“The new school building will achieve the highest standards of construction in line with the Scottish Government’s key measures of energy consumption, condition, digital, and economic growth and we believe that when completed it will be a continuing source of pride for the people of Dumfries for generations to come.”

More modern Dumfries architecture designs online here soon

Dumfries Architecture 2006 – 2018

24 + 20 Sep 2018
Moat Brae House – restoration work at the Georgian house where Peter Pan began
Date built: 1823
Design: Walter Newall Architect ; Renewal Design: LDN Architects
Style: Greek Revival
Listed building status: Category B

photo courtesy of The Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust (PPMBT)
Moat Brae House
A first glimpse inside the newly restored Moat Brae House, where Peter Pan began, has revealed the extent of the work undertaken to save a Scottish architectural gem.
By 2009 the once luxurious house was derelict and came within three days of being bulldozed when it was taken on by a small group of volunteers. After nearly a decade the first stage in its transformation into Scotland’s new National Centre for Children’s Literature and Storytelling is largely complete.

13 Dec 2017
Dumfries & Galloway Hospital Building Opens
The new £212m Dumfries and Galloway Hospital opens. The 344-bed new build facility was built using the off-site construction method DfMA (Design for Manufacture and Assembly).
Dumfries & Galloway Hospital Building News

Urban design competition for Stranraer and Dumfries

Organisers: Dumfries & Galloway Housing Partnership

winner for both competition sites: Collective Architecture

5 practices were selected and paid an honoraria of £5k to prepare ideas
Collective Architecture were formerly Chris Stewart Architects

Dumfries Theatre Royal Building News
Design: RMJM Architects

Dumfries Theatre : image from RMJM Architects
Dumfries theatre building proposal by RMJM Architects
This is the oldest theatre in use in Scotland and an extremely rare survival of an 18th century theatre, with connections to Robert Burns. Designed by local architect Thomas Boyd in 1790 – 2, and apparently modelled after the Theatre Royal in Bristol, the original building was a simple rectangular structure with a gabled front and a classical portico.

Dumfries & Galloway Hospital

Dumfries shopping development
Plans for 200,000 sqft, £50m Dumfries retail development unveiled by Centros Miller.
New shopping precinct over 3.7 acres from Queensberry Square, through the High Street and down towards the Whitesands, incl. part of Irish Street, Friars Vennel and Bank Street. Debenhams due to be anchor store.