Thursday, January 17, 2024
ISG awarded £7m contract by Hull City Council
ISG has been awarded a £7 million project by Hull City Council to build a landmark archives and local studies centre within the city. A joint venture between the Council and the University of Hull, and with a major grant secured from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), the Hull History Centre, designed by Pringle Richards Sharratt architects, will bring together a range of historical resources from across the city into one purpose built facility.
Flood protection for the irreplaceable 700 year old archive is a key design consideration and the two-storey concrete frame structure houses this important material on the first floor, within 11 self contained archive stores. This storage area contains floor to ceiling moveable racking systems for the 110,000 published items, including letters from William Wilberforce and papers from Philip Larkin, with the environment precisely controlled to ensure optimum temperature and relative humidity levels.
Public areas of the Hull History Centre are located to the ground floor, with ISG creating a flexible lecture theatre, library, reading rooms and IT and microform room. A conservation studio will enable on site preservation work to be carried out, alongside a new home for the centre's bindery service.
The most striking element of the building is the arcade, a full height covered walkway constructed with structural timber beams and a polymer roof (as used in the landmark Eden Project building in Cornwall). The arcade provides an open public space with a café and is able to house small exhibitions. The project is due to commence early in the New Year, with completion scheduled for summer 2009.
John Gittins, regional managing director of ISG Totty, commented: "The Hull History Centre has been designed specifically to safeguard the archival treasures that are currently dispersed across the city. The main storage area is located to the first floor of the building in a highly controlled environment, which ensures that any future flooding episodes within Hull have no impact on the irreplaceable written, audio and visual resources.
"The Centre is an excellent example of collaborative working between a host of key stakeholders and ISG is delighted to be playing such an integral role in the creation of this highly anticipated facility."
Flood protection for the irreplaceable 700 year old archive is a key design consideration and the two-storey concrete frame structure houses this important material on the first floor, within 11 self contained archive stores. This storage area contains floor to ceiling moveable racking systems for the 110,000 published items, including letters from William Wilberforce and papers from Philip Larkin, with the environment precisely controlled to ensure optimum temperature and relative humidity levels.
Public areas of the Hull History Centre are located to the ground floor, with ISG creating a flexible lecture theatre, library, reading rooms and IT and microform room. A conservation studio will enable on site preservation work to be carried out, alongside a new home for the centre's bindery service.
The most striking element of the building is the arcade, a full height covered walkway constructed with structural timber beams and a polymer roof (as used in the landmark Eden Project building in Cornwall). The arcade provides an open public space with a café and is able to house small exhibitions. The project is due to commence early in the New Year, with completion scheduled for summer 2009.
John Gittins, regional managing director of ISG Totty, commented: "The Hull History Centre has been designed specifically to safeguard the archival treasures that are currently dispersed across the city. The main storage area is located to the first floor of the building in a highly controlled environment, which ensures that any future flooding episodes within Hull have no impact on the irreplaceable written, audio and visual resources.
"The Centre is an excellent example of collaborative working between a host of key stakeholders and ISG is delighted to be playing such an integral role in the creation of this highly anticipated facility."
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