After successfully completing a Repository Feasibility Study for the Texas State University System, our team was tasked to design a long-term storage facility to receive, catalogue and house bound volumes, historical collections, film, art and artifacts in super dense, rigorously climate-controlled storage environments. The resulting Archives and Research Center (ARC) is a state-of-the-art facility that will preserve university treasures and library resources indefinitely.
The center is made of two construction types: a high-bay insulated precast tilt-wall storage module, and a steel-framed receiving and processing component. The 35’ clear-height storage module houses all collections, including 1.2 million bound volumes, and is subdivided to provide specific climatic environments for different stored materials. Non-storage areas include a loading dock, ingestion space with blast freezer and cleaning services, ascension processing, archivist workroom, research reading room and staff offices. The facility also includes a forklift picker charging station and van garage. The ARC is open to the public and allows students, faculty, staff and researchers to review and interact with materials on-site.
Development of the six-acre site will accommodate two future high-bay modules. The mechanical yard and dock facilities have been planned to expand the facility without significant modifications to the existing infrastructure.
Working with the Texas State University System on this important project helped further establish HarrisonKornberg’s expertise in the design of library repository and specialized records storage facilities. Principal Daniel Kornberg first presented on this topic at the 2014 Texas College & University Facilities Professionals Conference, after completing a similar facility for the Texas A&M University and University of Texas Systems, the Joint Library Facility. Our team has designed similar facilities for Montgomery County, and produced feasibility studies for Denton County and UT San Antonio.
