The role and the policies of the Museum regarding the exhibition, education and research, affect
directly the design of the storage policies, facilities and systems. In designing the storage areas, several factors had to be considered, such as the nature of the collection’s artifacts and the space required to store them, the collection’s safety, the control of environmental conditions and the protection of the items from natural disaster or man-induced damage.
The modus and frequency of use of the collection is a direct result of the Museum’s choices on matters of education, research and exhibition planning, which also affected the design of the storage facilities. They determined how visible and accessible the collection should be, to allow, among other things, the periodic inspection of all items.
Another factor was the Museum’s plans to enrich and expand the collection and the need for direct access to and communication with areas of activities related to the collection. One such example is the area of documentation and recording, the immediate proximity of which greatly contributes towards the safety of the collection, in more ways than one.
