The scheme included plans to add a purpose-built museum, designed by the Creative Core, within the church. Polstore was asked to help preserve and store its social history collection, housing around 17,000 objects such as framed photographs and paintings, costume, locomotive models and much more.
The size of the collection was a contributing factor to the complexity of this project, however, it was the new premises which gave the team a real challenge.
The whole collection was being relocated to its new home and, being a former church, the storage provision wasn’t typical of the museum stores the Polstore team are accustomed to. One storage area even included the former choir vestry.
Polstore Storage Systems has supplied over 400 museums across the UK with storage solutions for their artefacts and collections, with the company having specialised in this area during almost six decades working with the sector.
All this experience was called upon to work alongside the Council to successfully understand the desired outcome and help develop ideas throughout the project. As with all the schemes they are part of, spatial co-ordination, manufacturing and installation was handled by Polstore throughout.
The storerooms at Newton Abbot Museum were difficult spaces to work in, with storage units having to be fitted around obstacles such as pipework. To ensure everything worked like clockwork, project director Adam took the plans to site so he could see the space for himself and provide his team additional insight. This approach made certain the client would get the most effective use of their space.
"We were very impressed and will definitely contact them again for future work"
“The team that came down to install the storage units were very fast and efficient. We were very impressed and will definitely contact them again for future work,” notes Felicity Cole, the site’s curator.
“Adam did a brilliant job. Once he had physically seen the space he created a new plan to take into account the different areas available in the storerooms and the objects we needed to store. And it works!”
The museum storage project demanded a variety of storage products due to wide range of objects and artefacts to be stored. These now have been successfully housed in double skin shelving, wall hung mesh picture racks, an AO drawer storage plan chest, long span shelving and static art picture racking, as well as glass-door shelving units to display objects for ‘behind the scenes’ tours.
“At Polstore we believe that every storage solution we create should be exceptional. For museums and the heritage sector, we’re passionate about helping you to display your collections easily, whilst keeping them protected. Our storage and retrieval solutions can be used with any size of collection, big or small,” a company statement reads.
“The longevity of any storage solution is important to all our clients. Polstores storage products are genuinely built to last. For our heritage clients, you’re protecting pieces of history for future generations for decades to come. That’s why our powder coated paint finishes have been SMART tested for various metals by the National Conservation Service with a positive result showing no apparent excess deterioration and off gassing.”
Whatever you have in your collection, Polstore Storage Systems is your trusted reliable partner for all your storage needs.
