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The 4,500m2 facility will include a storage block containing around 15km shelving. This will be supplied by the UK’s largest storage equipment manufacturer Link 51(Storage Products). Past projects completed by Link 51 include The National Library of Wales and the Norfolk Records Office & East Anglian Film Archive. The facility is constructed in such a way as to use the structure itself to create stability in terms of temperature and humidity - reducing the need for environmentally expensive air conditioning.
The building will also provide conference space for workshops, lectures, school groups, a public searchroom and user facilities; and a modern paper conservation studio where visitors will be able to see specialists working to repair and conserve irreplaceable documents.
The building is due to be completed in the second half of 2009 at which point the GRO Collection, currently stored on three different sites, will be moved into a single location.
As part of this process all of the Collection is in the process of being packaged and bar-coded ready for the move. As of April 2008 over 25,000 bespoke boxes have been made using a box making machine and over 100,000 items have been linked to barcodes.
Link 51 are extremely proud to have been awarded this prestigious contract and look forward to playing an integral part in the design and fit out of the new Record Office.
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