The Victoria Tower, and the transition in historic archive environments, 1946-2004

The Victoria Tower of the Palace of Westminster functioned as a repository for parliamentary records for 162 years. The interior of original repository, completed in 1863, was founded on nineteenth-century ideas of an ideal storage environment. This prioritized fire safety over other factors of conservation. The outcome was a repository without services for lighting, ventilation, or climate control. Between 1947 and 1963, however, the original repository was reassessed and remodelled in line with emerging new practices of preventive conservation, in which the provision climatically controlled spaces were a central feature. The outcome was the earliest example of an air-conditioned archive building in the UK. The study of this transformation, which is the focus of this article, has provided close insights into a period of technological transition. Underpinned by scientific research and technical trials, the modernisation provided a site where the impact of advances in the science of preventive conservation on the architecture, technology, and operation of archive buildings could be studied. This transition, however, did not ended with the completion of the modernization, but must be understood as an ongoing process. The pioneering system was in use for 35 years, and the study of its operational history, which is examined in the second half of this article, has shown that its performance was the subject of ongoing observations, discussions, and formal inquiries. These revealed practical challenges, and the second technical modernization, delivered between 1997 and 2004, was integral part of this ongoing engagement with modern ideas of conversation.