PLANNING RESPONSIBLY FOR CONSERVATION IN NEW MUSEUMS
By Samuel M. Anderson
M
USEUM PROFESSIONALS engaged in the planning and design of conservation laboratory facilities will find the strategies and recommendations presented here beneficial for successful project implementation. Administrative project leaders may be unaware of how conservation’ s programmatic requirements bear heavily on initial decisions about location, fenestration, and climate control. Three decades of laboratory design experience, working both independently and with internationally renowned architects, has shown how essential it is to make well-informed decisions early in the process. This framework assists project teams to make sound decisions throughout the planning process, particularly for comprehensive museum projects incorporating conservation alongside other programmatic elements.
PRELIMINARY PLANNING: THE CONSERVATION LAB BRIEF
In creating the brief for planning a new museum, project leadership should engage not only curators, exhibition specialists, and museum educators, but conservators as well. The brief document should articulate overall objectives and specific expectations for spatial and staffing requirements, climate control, natural light, and other key parameters. Project leaders should review the document carefully to ensure understanding of how conservation’ s technical requirements impact key decisions affecting the museum’ s composition. The planning process will fail if appropriate decisions about conservation are not established well before design commences.
Staff( or hired consultants, if necessary) should compose a dedicated chapter of the museum brief outlining essential requirements for the conservation department. In addition to defining the laboratory’ s role within the context of the museum’ s mission, it should include all special equipment and functions( x-radiography, spray room, imaging, oversized sink, etc.) and list specific requirements: Staffing levels, treatment stations, specialized tables, and floor vibration limits. These lists stimulate thinking and lead to the articulation of other needs and issues. Reviewing the list with all project staff further improves its completeness and better prepares teams for design. When possible, visiting laboratories at other institutions provides valuable learning opportunities about what to include and avoid. Staff should
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