This standard outlines detailed guidance for designing archive buildings, emphasizing essential elements crucial for the safe storage, upkeep, and preservation of archival materials such as documents, maps, and microfilms. It encompasses vital considerations like fire protection, site selection, compartmentalization, environmental regulation, and administrative spaces, serving as a vital reference for architects, engineers, and planners involved in archival facility development.
Overview
This standard outlines detailed guidance for designing archive buildings, emphasizing essential elements crucial for the safe storage, upkeep, and preservation of archival materials such as documents, maps, and microfilms. It encompasses vital considerations like fire protection, site selection, compartmentalization, environmental regulation, and administrative spaces, serving as a vital reference for architects, engineers, and planners involved in archival facility development.
Audience
Contents
Structure
Frequently Asked
According to the standard, compartmentation walls must be constructed from non-combustible materials and possess a minimum fire resistance rating of two hours. Doors within these walls should be self-closing fire and smoke check doors with at least one hour of fire resistance. Building components such as stairways, lifts, and shafts require fire-resisting enclosures equivalent to Type I construction. Floors in storage areas should be solid without perforations and leakproof with adequate drainage to prevent fire spread.
Stack rooms should be designed as separate units with easy access from records and reception areas, ideally oriented along the east-west axis to reduce direct sunlight exposure. Fire compartmentalization must be implemented both horizontally and vertically using fire-resistant materials and non-combustible floors without any openings to prevent fire propagation. Electrically operated lifts for multi-tier stacks should have fire-resistant doors with at least a two-hour rating, dedicated solely for records handling.
Site selection should avoid polluted environments, areas with high groundwater levels, and termite-prone locations. It should ensure accessibility for users such as scholars and government agencies, preferably near libraries and with good transport connectivity. The site must also accommodate future expansion over 20 to 25 years based on archival growth trends. Protection measures against fire, flood, theft, pests, and harsh climatic conditions are essential for safeguarding archival assets.
The standard recommends selecting sites free from pollution and excessive sub-soil moisture while avoiding termite infestations. Buildings should be designed to protect against fire, flooding, theft, and biological threats such as fungi and pests. Maintaining controlled temperature (18°C to 22°C) and relative humidity (45% to 55%) through continuous air-conditioning is critical. Additionally, lighting should minimize ultraviolet exposure to prevent material degradation.
Administrative and research spaces should be planned with a single staff and visitor entrance equipped with reception and enquiry facilities, while records should have a separate receiving entrance. Space allocation per person is typically 15 m² for officers, 5 m² for administrative staff, and 10 m² for technical or research personnel. Research rooms should be conveniently accessible from the main entrance and stack rooms, designed to provide a quiet environment with acoustic treatment and noiseless flooring. Provision for future expansion should also be considered.
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