Aberdeen Council’s planning committee meets on 28 November to consider plans – recommended for approval – for a £30m redevelopment of the city’s Art Gallery.

Proposals for the interior include stripping-out spaces, including the entrance lobby and staircase leading to the first floor of the Art Gallery; relocating granite columns and reinstating the pilaster vaulting; refurbishment of the Cowdray Hall; the creation of a community gallery as part of a new wing at the rear of the building; and the installation of a new principal staircase.

Proposals for the exterior include removing the pitched roofs and skylights behind the parapets of the main building and adding a new storey housing temporary galleries and a learning zone.

Elements of the work, particularly the proposed removal of an historic marble staircase, have met considerable local opposition.

However, the council’s head of planning and sustainable development Dr Margaret Bochel said: "The proposed work is culture-led.

“The current building has seen a number of unsympathetic alterations over recent years and is not considered to meet the current requirements or provide an adequate home for the important collection.