Artelia has delivered a much needed and impressive new Collections Store for the National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN). The new Collections facility is located in a purpose-renovated Victorian building called ‘Storehouse 12’ within Portsmouth’s Naval Base spanning 1,005 sqm.

The brick-built storehouse dates back to 1860 and was being used as a library and archive on the ground floor with the upper floor vacant. NMRN’s aim was to transform the upper floor into a first-class storage facility to house some of their most interesting Royal Marines collections and objects – improving accessibility and ensuring their preservation for the future.
Working closely with the museum’s collections team, Artelia planned the project, managed the procurement of the main contractor and oversaw renovation and fit-out works through to completion, including the disruption caused by Covid and the resumption of works under different conditions and safety controls.

The Collections Store now houses humidity-controlled storage spaces with purposed designed racking and features a photo laboratory, conservation studio and quarantine store, enabling NMRN to now properly care for their unique and historically important collections. NMRN’s Collections team are now hard at work unpacking and storing the vast array of objects and archives.

Matthew Sheldon, NMRN’s Executive Director of Museum Operations, had this to say about Artelia’s contribution:

The Artelia team made many essential contributions to this project, but particularly critical was their clear, nimble ways of working which enabled the project to move at great pace – from a budget decision to Practical Completion in less than 18 months. We are delighted with the finished Collections Centre!

You can find out what the new Collections Store means to NMRN by watching their Facebook video.