Aberdeen's Satrosphere Science Centre has this week launched a £7m fundraising campaign as it unveiled plans to refurbish and double the size of its current facility.

As part of the refurbishment the centre would also change its focus to the science of energy, a theme Satrosphere says is rarely emphasised in science centres throughout Europe.

The development will include new learning, teaching and corporate spaces, intended to increase Satrosphere's visitor numbers from its current 55,000 to 70,000 annually, and double the number of school visits each year.

Satrosphere, which opened in 1988 as Scotland's first science and discovery centre, anticipates the fundraising campaign will take two years.

Energy was seen as a fitting theme for the centre due to Aberdeen's profitable energy industry.

Satrosphere chief executive Dr Paul Jennings said: "The plan is to completely refresh the centre and in doing so create a dynamic and contemporary showcase for science in which audiences are actively encouraged to learn through 'hands-on' enquiry."

"Successful science centres draw on the context of their local science and 'energy' was a theme that came up consistently in our discussions with stakeholders in the city and shire."

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