Safe and modern. The expansion of the State Archives is underway in Katowice
Three new buildings with conference rooms, exhibition rooms and, above all, new, additional storage facilities for storing the most important documents. The State Archives in Katowice will not only gain a new look, but most importantly – it will be able to protect all archival materials thanks to the use of the latest technologies.
The State Archives in Katowice includes a complex of buildings serving various functions – there are storage buildings, archive conservation and digitization workshops, a library, and the main building containing administrative offices, including, for example, a files reading room. The NDI Group’s task is to expand existing facilities and build completely new ones. Modern warehouse buildings are being built, as well as conference rooms.
– We are building three new buildings and at the same time remodeling three existing ones. All the facilities we are working with will be connected by a network of links that will allow any potential transport of archives between individual zones or rooms to take place in controlled conditions, without going outside – says Kamil Kasprzak, Project Director at the NDI Group.
After modernization, the complex of buildings of the State Archives in Katowice will include, among others, archive storage rooms, conference, exhibition and workshop rooms, as well as office space and a reading room. The modern buildings will be connected by partially glazed links.
Safe conditions
A dry gas fire suppression system will be installed in the storage buildings, which will allow to extinguish a fire without the need to use water and without the potential destruction of stored materials. In addition, the warehouses will be fitted with a precision air-conditioning system, which is equally important because the documents stored in the archives are sometimes even several hundred years old and are very sensitive to fluctuations of climatic conditions.
– The materials belonging to the State Archives in Katowice are very important for residents. There is a lot of information about the cultural heritage of this region, and the history of Silesia is very interesting. There are also newer documents here that allow interested people to build, for example, their family tree – adds Kamil Kasprzak.
The perfect plan for the construction site
The challenge for the General Contractor is, above all, that the team must carry out construction works within an operating facility. – There are several buildings belonging to the Contracting Party located in this area, and communication between them must be maintained at all times. We therefore organise our construction site in such a way that Archive employees can safely perform their duties and thus walk around our fenced construction sites. We try to do everything we can to not make the work of archivists more difficult – explains the Project Director.
The NDI Group took over the construction site in February 2024, and the completion date of this investment is scheduled for August 2026. – We are doing everything to hand over the construction to the Investor as soon as possible, so that the Archive can perform its functions to perfection – Kamil Kasprzak sums up.
The total area of this project will be over 10,000 m2. The investment project cost is more than PLN 70 million gross.
