July 29 2024

Historic Environment Scotland has shelved plans for a dedicated archive facility in Bonnyrigg amidst concern over escalating costs and delays.

The organisation had hoped to migrate its trove of documents to a dedicated Oberlanders-designed facility in the Midlothian town but will now resort to temporary storage while it works out a long-term solution.

Archive House would have provided the highest standards of care for priceless drawings, photographs, prints and books held by the heritage body but rising materials and labour costs made its delivery unviable.

Craig Mearns, interim chief executive of HES, commented: “We are committed to the long-term stewardship of the wonderful national resource that is our archive. While we are disappointed to have to step back from the project as originally conceived, our priority at this time is delivering an appropriate interim solution.”

HES will go back to the drawing board to work out a more cost-effective solution for its storage needs, an issue which will come to a head soon with the need to relocate its existing collection from John Sinclair House before October 2026. 

5 Comments

#1 Posted by Rss on 29 Jul 2024 at 15:22 PM

Of all the empty historic buildings (thinking Glasgow city centre) that could be repurposed to become an archives centre...

#2 Posted by Fat Bloke on Tour on 29 Jul 2024 at 23:52 PM

The Auld Reekie Vampire squid of East Coast distressed gentlefolk welfare -- phew / lucky escape.

Lucky escape on the design front -- seen better looking Lidls.

#3 Posted by The Vampire Squid Itself on 30 Jul 2024 at 10:10 AM

I'm increasingly convinced that FBOT is a disgraced spoken word poet consigned to posting here after the publishers stopped returning their calls.

#4 Posted by Craigbert on 30 Jul 2024 at 11:49 AM

Before October 2026 now seems like an unachievable target. Looks like ScotGov might find a route towards shared facilities yet.

#5 Posted by Mark on 10 Aug 2024 at 21:05 PM

I always wondered why they didn't propose a functional but cheaper climate-controlled warehouse-type building adjacent to the Engine Shed in Stirling. The latter could be the "front end" for public access to the collections, hence the warehouse wouldn't need to be flashy.

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