A history with Rackline - Dacorum Heritage Museum

A leading independent museum was encountering the classic problems familiar to any collector of artefacts. The ever increasing range of objects ranging from photographs, postcards and artwork to a fossilised loaf of roman bread from the excavation of Gade bridge Roman Villa, had led to a serious Health and Safety issue.

The Brief
Since its inception in 1993 the Heritage Centre had run out of space and started to overload the existing shelving system. The overloading of the system and stacking to the ceiling of various items was leading to the potential of serious Health and Safety issues for the staff picking items from the collection.

Richard Lewis, the curator was looking for a storage system that would address three primary issues. Firstly, to accommodate the collection within the original museum building at Berkhamsted. Secondly, a system that must not only accommodate the existing collection but would provide room for future growth of the eclectic collection. Finally a system that would enable visitors access to the collection - an important consideration for any independent museum looking for funding.

Solution
Rackline was invited to assess the Curators requirements and provide a solution that would address Richard's three primary concerns within the budget that had been identified.

Rackline, specialists in storage systems, proposed a solution taking place in two phases utilising it's unique and popular Monotrak mobile system which obviates the need for an infill floor, therefore optimising the available space generated which was critical in the unusually shaped rooms of the trust building.

Phase one consisted of the installation of bays of Profile shelving mounted onto Monotrak mobile bases. The unique Monotrak system allows a mobile system to be fitted directly onto the floor with no requirement for an infill floor and negating any trip hazards, eradicating more Heath and Safety concerns. By utilising the mobile shelving and a bespoke shelf size Rackline increased the storage capacity by 50% and stored around 25,000 objects.

Phase Two of the project was to transform the Archaeology storage by doubling the capacity. Rackline installed bays of Profile shelving mounted onto Multitrak mobile bases, the Multitrak system includes an infill floor to allow for longer runs of mobiles without creating any hazards on the floor. The Multitrak system allowed Rackline to maximise the capacity within the rooms. The new shelving system provided nearly 300 linear metres of storage.

"The Museum Store is a focal point and as such is very much a working environment rather that simply a storage area. The new shelving will benefit the collections, visitors, volunteers and staff"
Richard Lewis, Curator.