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About the NRFTA: Overview | Preservation | Building |
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Our Building In February 2002 work started on a new purpose-built temperature and humidity controlled vault facility on campus at the University of Teesside, funded by an £800,000 grant from the Government's Strategic Redevelopment Budget. Environmentally controlled vaults are vitally important for ensuring that film and videotape is preserved properly. Both media require a cool and dry atmosphere in order to avoid chemical decomposition which will initially degrade the images and sounds recorded on them, and eventually render them unplayable. As well as modern air conditioning plant, the new building features a fire suppressant system which uses a recently developed gas called Inergen. This can extinguish fires without the use of water, which would further damage the media inside the vault. Unlike the only alternative, Halon, Inergen does not relaese greenhouse gases and is not dangerous to human health. Final safety tests were completed on 4 March 2003, and the building was handed over. The process of moving our existing holdings and shelving them took a further 18 months. This was slow and painstaking work, as many of the existing collections were deposited in poor condition and needed remedial conservation work before they could be moved.
Health and safety was a major issue during the building work, which took place right next to the University's main entrance.
A view of the building site taken from the 6th floor of Middlesbrough Tower in April 2002, showing the city centre in the background.
June 2002: The RSJ frame supporting the shell of the building is now in place. Note the reinforced platform being prepared in the top right of this picture, which will support the air handling units seen below
October 2002: Installing the specialised air handling units which will provide the cool and dry atmosphere needed to ensure the long-term preservation of films and videotapes.
January 2003: The shell of the building is complete. Only the commissioning of electrical and mechanical services to go.
The small panels on the left control and monitor the atmosphere in each of the three separate vaults. The two main panels control the fire suppressant system. Behind the yellow safety catches are switches which release Inergen gas into each compartment. This will extinguish any fire without needing to use water, which would risk seriously damaging the film and videotape elements inside, or Halon gas, which is highly toxic and a greenhouse gas.
The interior end of the air handling system. Air is sucked in through the filter at the bottom of the unit, cleaned in order to remove any acidic vapours and then recirculated through the porous fabric channels mounted on the ceiling.
Mobile shelving in the new black-and-white film compartment ready to be stocked.
February 2004: 16mm film elements from the BBC collection housed in the new vault.
Part of the new magnetic media store, housing master status videotapes deposited by ICI.
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