James Thomson

Who was James Thomson?

James Thomson was the former City Engineer, City Architect, and Housing Director of Dundee, Scotland. He originally planned an immense Beaux Arts style Civic Centre covering the centre of Dundee. At the onset of First World War, his plans were scaled down and he retired in 1924. He was the designer behind the progressive ideas such as the ‘Kingsway’ City Bypass, combined road widening and slum clearance, the Craigie Garden City Estate and the first ever district heated housing scheme at Logie. After Thomson's death in 1927 his former assistant, James MacLellan Brown, as Deputy City Architect, remodelled Burnet's designs in 1931.