New plans submitted for Huddersfield Museum and Art Gallery with 4 new images of what it could look like

A new planning application has been submitted for the new Huddersfield Museum and Art Gallery – along with updated images of what it could look like.

A previous planning application for the Grade II-listed former Huddersfield Library in Princess Alexandra Walk was approved back in January 2025 but architects have now amended the design.

The 1930s building will see a full height extension built at the back which will have an entrance foyer, café and shop. Outside there will be a café terrace.

The overall plans haven’t changed a great deal and the building will still provide a home for the town’s museum and the ‘Huddersfield Collection’ of historical artifacts and also state-of-the-art gallery space to stage exhibitions and also display artwork owned by Kirklees Council.

The changes are mainly to the basement and lower ground floor, which won’t be public areas.

The basement has been made smaller and cycle storage and workshops for staff will be moved from the basement to the lower ground floor.

A key change will see an external courtyard re-designed so that it can provide a secure and private education space for school visits and the like.

Some historical features inside have also been impacted by the removal of asbestos which was found within or behind panelled walls.

It’s not clear how the design changes and the new planning application has affected the cost of construction or when it might start.

When the previous plans were approved in January 2025, the expected cost of the project was £73 million with an estimated opening date of Spring 2029.

The design and access statement published with the latest planning application says the changes to the staff area improve “operational efficiency” and the courtyard education area provides a “generous, safe and secure space for the education team to use for activities in collaboration with local schools and community groups.”

On the asbestos removal, architects have worked closely with the council’s conservation team to repair and restore where partial demolition of walls has been necessary.

A heritage statement says: “The core principles of the brief… is to retain and repair the key heritage assets of the existing building, whilst allowing the building to perform to the highest standards of the day in order to house high profile exhibits and artefacts that are significant to the history of Huddersfield.”

The old Huddersfield Library pictured in 1940

Kirklees Council is continuing to develop the wider Our Cultural Heart regeneration project.

Phase 1 of the scheme is nearing completion with the new library hub, being created in an extension to the old Queensgate Market building, due to open in September 2026.

The food hall in the main part of the Queensgate Market building had been due to open this summer but that’s now been delayed until Spring 2027 at the earliest.

Kirklees Council had hoped to find a private sector operator to lease the food hall but that has not proved possible so the council is to take on the running of the food hall itself. The council is also spending £4 million on the internal fit-out, which council chiefs had hoped the tenant would pay for. Read more about that HERE.

Phase 2 of Our Cultural Heart is the museum and art gallery and Phase 3 will be the demolition of the Piazza Centre to open up the area and create an urban park.

Later stages of the scheme – the use of a vacant plot of land in Queen Street and a possible music/events venue with multi-storey car park – remain uncertain with a change of leadership looming for Kirklees Council in the wake of Labour’s wipe-out at the local elections.

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