Major upgrade will ‘improve experience’ for visitors to Dundee waterfront

Dundee’s Discovery Point waterfront will undergo a major upgrade project costing £523,000 that will see the addition of exhibitions and interactive experiences.

An injection of funds from various sources, including the Coastal Communities Fund and Dundee City Council, will pay for several new Antarctic-related exhibits, new audio-visual and computer features, and an upgraded learning centre.

Dundee Heritage Trust, which runs Discovery Point, has recruited AIM Design of Dundee as both the architects and exhibition designers for the project.

It is expected that building work will begin on-site in October with the new spaces  complete by Easter 2018.

What can groups expect from the project?

The project is set to improve the experience for visitors to Discovery Point and the ship RRS Discovery, which has recently reopened following a separate renovation project. The ship is a popular visitor attraction in Dundee and located next to the new V&A Dundee, which will open in 2018.

Aimed to attract both leisure and business tourists, the newly refurbished Discovery Point will focus on investment in three areas: galleries and visitor experience; a new learning suite; and reconfigured conferencing and events space.

The galleries and visitor experience will include new graphics, audio-visual shows, computer and hands-on interactives, and an extended display of the Trust’s polar collection, which is said to be of national importance.

Included in the exhibits will be a sledge-pulling interactive experience to see if visitors have what it takes to be a polar explorer, and a large touch table computer that will allow visitors to virtually explore historic huts, contemporary scientific bases and modern research vessels in the Antarctic.

More on the project

The two main funders for the capital works project are the Coastal Communities Fund, which is contributing £258,000, and Dundee City Council, which has committed £200,000. The remaining £65,000 is coming from charitable trusts and the Friends of Dundee Heritage Trust.

For more information visit www.rrsdiscovery.com.