The tourist area at the Palace of Holyroodhouse is to undergo a revamp as part of a £10m upgrade, the Royal Collection has announced.

The outside space at Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh will be redeveloped as part of the major work due to start next year.

The multi-million pound transformation, which includes a purpose-built learning centre, is aimed at improving visitor facilities, giving the public more choice and greater access to two of the Queen's official residences.

Jonathan Marsden, director of the Royal Collection Trust, said: "People have been visiting the Palace of Holyroodhouse for centuries and now more than 1.5 million do so every year."

He added: "We want everybody to have a proper sense of arrival, to be able to make choices about how they go about their visits. We will interpret the palaces and collections in new ways, open up new spaces to the public and we're going to create a purpose-built learning centre."

The work will be funded by the Royal Collection Trust charity, which does not receive public funding, but generates its income from admissions to official royal residences such as Buckingham Palace, Windsor and Holyroodhouse and The Queen's Galleries, and from the sale of gifts and chinaware in its shops.

At Holyroodhouse a new family room will be introduced inside the palace, the storytelling of the state apartments will be improved and the Abbey Strand buildings, which sit just outside the palace gates, will be restored to house a learning centre.

Redevelopment of the outside space, in partnership with Historic Environment Scotland, including the Holyrood Abbey, the grounds and forecourt, will aim to reconnect the palace to the city.

The work will begin early in 2017 and should be completed by the end of 2018 with the residency remaining open to visitors throughout.

The firm Burd Haward Architects, who worked at Sir Winston Churchill's family home, Chartwell, has been chosen as the lead designer for Holyroodhouse.

The Royal Collection, one of the largest art collections in the world, is held in trust by the Queen as sovereign for her successors and the nation, but not owned personally by the monarch.