This flashy new multi-million-pound museum is coming to Scotland

How much do you know about Aberdeenshire? Perhaps you’ve heard of Aberdeen being called the ‘Grey City’ (thanks to its abundance of granite architecture) but the region has also got a bunch of stunning natural beauty, from sandy beaches that look out to the North Sea to the Cairngorms National Park. 

And soon there will be a brand new museum to show off exactly what makes Aberdeenshire so great. Plans for a new multi-million Museum of Aberdeenshire and Peterhead Library have been formally submitted. 

The project is part of the ‘Cultural Tides: North Sea Connections in Aberdeenshire’ bid to renovate and extend the Macduff Marine Aquarium. Part of the £20million of funding received from the UK Government will be used to refurbish the B-listed Arbuthnot House, which will host the new museum and town library. 

Ewan Imrie, director of Collective Architecture (who prepared the plans), said: ‘Our extension design aims to create a landmark that will draw both locals and visitors to Peterhead, celebrating the unique identity and heritage of Aberdeenshire.’ 

Transforming the building into a multi-use cultural space, the plans include adding an extension to the building for the library, with the gallery starting on the ground floor and a room dedicated to all things Peterhead, Aberdeenshire’s historic fishing port. A cafe will be open to the public downstairs, opening onto a walled garden, with a vision to turn the top floor of the space into a ‘dining destination’. 

Live Life Aberdeenshire, who will be operating the new museum, asked for contributions from residents earlier this year, with plans for permanent and temporary exhibitions to take place. Beyond that, there’s no further updates on what to expect, but it looks likely to be a real community asset. Perhaps it’s time we all brushed up on our knowledge of Aberdeenshire. 

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