History preserved in Hull
ISG TOTTY has secured a £7m project to build an archive and local studies centre in Hull which will contain letters written by famous anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce.
A joint venture between Hull City Council and the University of Hull, the Hull History Centre 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 for the structure and the two-storey concrete frame will house material on the first floor within 11 self contained archive stores.
A grant has also been secured from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to help build the centre, which has been designed by architects Pringle Richards Sharratt.
The archive stores will contain floor to ceiling moveable racking systems for the 110,000 published items, including papers from Philip Larkin, with the environment precisely controlled to ensure optimum temperature and relative humidity levels.
Public areas of the Hull History Centre will be located on the ground floor, with Bradford-based contractor 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 Hull History Centre will also include an arcade built with materials used in the Eden Project in Cornwall.
John Gittins, regional managing director of ISG Totty, said: “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.”
The project is set to be completed in 2009.
