Plans for a new world-class facility for the Historic Environment Scotland (HES) Archive have passed their first milestone with the granting of planning permission for the proposals by Midlothian Council.
The project to convert an existing building in the Sherwood Industrial Estate in Bonnyrigg into a new state-of-the-art home for the organisation’s extensive records and archives will now progress, with overall project management and cost consultancy by Gleeds, design by Oberlanders, specialist engineering input from Buro Happold, civil structural and geo-environmental services from Curtins and development by Morrison Construction Scotland.
The project is expected to be completed in 2026 and aims to be the first public building to be designed and built implementing the new Scottish Government Net Zero Public Sector Building Standard Standard in conjunction with Passive House EnerPHit standard which takes into account not only the carbon emissions of the building while in use, but also the carbon emissions associated with the building materials, construction and maintenance.
Currently housed at John Sinclair House in Edinburgh and other locations across central Scotland, the HES Archive is home to the national archaeological and architectural archive. It holds over 3,500 different collections, comprising drawings, photographs, documents, prints and tomes stretching across 15km of shelving. The new facility will enable these collections to be protected to the highest standards.
Lesley Ferguson, Head of Archives at HES, said: “We’re delighted that the plans for a new home for our archive have been granted planning permission, and we can now progress with this hugely important project to ensure our unique archival collections can be protected for future generations.”
