ITT: Storage Design and Environmental Requirements Framework for Archaeological Archives in England, UID 369

This a visionary project to define the ideal physical infrastructure for a National Collection of Archaeological Archives (NCAA) in England. It addresses the growing crisis in archaeological archive storage due to museum capacity limits and aims to establish a state-of-the-art national store that ensures preservation, accessibility, and sustainability for whole archaeological archives of England where regional deposition is not possible. The aim of this project is to define a best evidence-based storage system for a national store of archaeological archives. The baseline model for such a store has already been outlined in the Options for Sustainable Archaeological Archives Report and is described below. The Operating Model has also been explored. In addition to establishing a vision for a national archaeological archive repository, this project will provide an evidence base for future infrastructure planning, including storage environments, spatial organisation, sustainability, and repository design requirements. The findings will support complementary work on business case development, cost modelling, building design, and site selection.