Designing for Cultural Heritage Collections

Designing for Cultural Heritage Collections

This webinar is part of the RAIC 2024 Conference on Architecture, now available to stream!

Topics: History, Heritage, and Culture

Length: 1 hour | What's Included: Video, Quiz, and Certificate of Completion 

Thoughtful architectural design for museums, galleries, cultural centres, libraries, and archives has impact: drawing in the public and facilitating access to collections while balancing preservation for future generations and creating effective cultural heritage workspaces. The Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) is a Special Operating Agency with the Department of Canadian Heritage that advances and promotes the conservation of heritage collections in Canada through its expertise in conservation science, treatment and preventive conservation. CCI’s preventive conservation services include facility assessments of existing cultural heritage facilities, as well as advisory services for major renovations and new construction projects. This presentation will discuss design challenges commonly encountered in these projects, and offer architects considerations, guidance, and resources for designing for cultural heritage collections.

By the completion of this session, participants will be able to:

• Name the ten agents of deterioration that threaten cultural heritage objects.
• Recognize how architecture can impact cultural heritage collections.
• Locate preventive conservation resources that can guide architectural design for cultural heritage collection spaces.
• Propose design that promotes collection preservation.

Subject Matter Expert:

Evelyn Ayre
Master of Art Conservation (Artifacts), Bachelor of Fine Arts - Studio Arts
Preventive Conservation Advisor, Canadian Conservation Institute

Evelyn Ayre joined the Canadian Conservation Institute in 2013 and became a preventive conservation advisor in 2017. She provides preventive conservation services to cultural heritage institutions in Canada, including recent capital project advisory services for Library and Archives Canada, the University of British Columbia Rare Books and Special Collections, and Inuit Heritage Trust. Along with advisory work, she develops and facilitates preventive conservation training, contributes to comprehensive collection risk projects, and leads content development for video projects about the museum environment.