Library and Archives Canada Reveals Design of New Preservation Centre, Will Be First “Net-Zero Carbon” Facility Dedicated to Archival Preservation in the Americas

From Library and Archives Canada:

Today, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and the Plenary Properties Gatineau (PPG) consortium, which is responsible for constructing a second preservation centre in Gatineau, Quebec, revealed the design of the building that will be located directly behind the current Preservation Centre.

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The new preservation centre will be the first “net-zero carbon” facility dedicated to archival preservation in the Americas, and the first federal building constructed to the requirements of Canada’s Greening Government Strategy. The main features of a net-zero carbon building are:

• minimal carbon emissions from energy consumption, achieved through building design and efficiency measures;
• energy needs met through carbon-free fuel sources; and
• minimal embodied carbon in building materials.

It will also be the world’s largest preservation facility equipped with a high-tech automated archive storage and retrieval system. This means that our precious national collections will be kept under optimal preservation conditions.

The PPG proposal was selected for this public-private partnership because it meets all of the required technical criteria and can be implemented at the best possible cost to taxpayers. The consortium will:

• design, build and finance the new building;
• optimize storage space in the current Preservation Centre; and
• operate and maintain both facilities.

The ultra-modern facility will increase LAC’s capacity to store Canadian archives and resolve the critical shortage of space expected in the very near future. Construction will begin in 2019 and lead to the creation of hundreds of new jobs, with the opening expected in 2022.

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Quick Facts

• By pursuing a sustainable, green approach, LAC has significantly reduced its environmental footprint since 2011. It has cut its number of preservation spaces from 22 to 5, while shrinking their total area from 237,000 to 124,000 square metres and maximizing the space used.
• Construction of the new preservation facility, optimization of the current Preservation Centre vaults, and project funding will cost approximately $330 million. This amount does not include the operating and maintenance costs of the two facilities over 30 years.
• Although LAC is adding new, essential space to meet its current and future needs for the storage and preservation of analogue documentary heritage (including official federal government records, for which it is the continuing memory), it continues to make significant strides in digitizing its collection to achieve greater accessibility.
• The public will be able to consult LAC’s collections while this work progresses, apart from a few brief service interruptions.

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Media Coverage:  Feds Unveil Designs For $330 Million Library and Archives Canada Building In Gatineau (via Ottawa Business Journal)

See Also: A Look Inside the Library and Archives Canada Preservation Centre (December 19, 2017)

Filed under: Archives and Special Collections, Funding, Jobs, Libraries, News, Preservation