Modern museums trace their origins to Renaissance-era Wunderkammern, or “cabinets of curiosities”: dense assemblages of eclectic objects displayed in private homes. From the 18th century, collections moved into public institutions – first in grand neoclassical buildings and later in distinctive modernist architecture – and organised through formal taxonomies. In the 21st century, a new museum typology is emerging that returns to those origins with a contemporary twist: purpose-built collection stores accommodating vast and varied holdings, and opened – at least in part – to the public.

This shift responds to a persistent dilemma. Most museums can display only a fraction of what they hold. At the same time there’s a push to democratise cultural institutions – expanding what counts as display and who experiences collections – while public expectations increasingly favour transparency and new forms of participation.

Open and visible storage addresses both pressures. It reframes stored collections as active resources for research, learning, and curiosity rather than dormant reserves, and brings the often-invisible labour of conservation, cataloguing, and collections care into public view. The result is a new kind of cultural infrastructure: buildings that offer varying degrees of public access, such as Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Schaulager (“show-store”) in Münchenstein, and the V&A East Storehouse in London.

Two major buildings designed by JMP exemplify different approaches to this emerging model. The British Museum Archaeological Research Collection (BM_ARC), located at Shinfield near London, is a research-focused facility prioritising preservation, access for scholars, and global lending. By contrast, The Art Works in Edinburgh is conceived as a highly public, integrated hub for Scotland’s national art collection, bringing storage, conservation, research and display together in a single place. Both projects required rethinking storage as a living space where objects are encountered, studied and connected to wider cultural narratives.

Cross-pollination

Collection storage presents particular challenges which are intensified when public access is introduced; security and environmental stability are high on that list. Addressing these demands is informed by JMP’s previous experience in opening up collections within established museums. 

The refurbishment of the Burrell Collection in Glasgow, for example, created a prominent visible-storage area on the lower ground floor, increasing engagement with a collection of over 9,000 objects. Similarly, the 2018 masterplan for the Royal British Columbia Museum in Canada combined openness with sophisticated storage provision through a state-of-the-art collections tower.

Both BM_ARC and The Art Works were required to meet environmental standards significantly higher than those of conventional storage buildings. This reflects both the collections’ sensitivity and the institutions’ commitments to reducing operational carbon and progressing towards net-zero targets.

The Art Works will be the largest building in Scotland designed to the Passivhaus standard. Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery maintains tightly controlled temperature and humidity conditions essential for artworks and archives, while minimising energy demand.

BM_ARC, which houses sculptures, mosaics, historic casts, and archaeological assemblages, requires stable conditions for vulnerable materials such as textiles and iron. A high-performance building envelope with very low air permeability ensures that internal conditions change slowly and predictably, reducing both risk and energy use. The building is all-electric and incorporates rooftop photovoltaic panels to generate renewable power.

Giving stores a public face

A further challenge was architectural: how to give each building a clear public identity. Both are necessarily robust, with large areas that must be windowless, yet both are also intended to welcome visitors. In each case, the design strategy drew on local context to create familiar, legible forms that balance security with openness.

Set on Edinburgh’s Granton waterfront, the Art Works is a cornerstone in the mixed-use regeneration of a coastal brownfield site, and intended as a meeting place for existing communities to the south and new residents to the north. 

We were concerned that a freestanding building set among landscaped gardens should not be perceived as an isolated island. Its architecture conveys an open, democratic character, with large areas of glass giving views into public areas. Arranged in parallel blocks of varying length, the building will be clad in a finely detailed skin of reflective metal that gives it a clean, contemporary appearance while alluding to Granton’s industrial history.

The building extends public space inside and out. The engaging frontage gives life to its western plaza, and the scheme consolidates a pedestrian route to the former Madelvic car factory, an important piece of local history. Internal circulation is also conceived as a street – a piece of civic common ground – where visitors can mingle with artists, curators and conservators.

As BM_ARC is principally visited by scholars and students it does not require a public face in quite the same way, but is nevertheless composed to make an overt gesture of welcome. Three wings are staggered in plan to make a sheltered entrance courtyard. Clad in black zinc and timber, they resemble rural barns set in a bright, naturalistic landscape of new trees, hedges and wildflower meadows. Planting makes an uplifting experience of the approach, and contributes to the impression of openness where a landscaped courtyard is inset into one wing, and surrounded by glazed study areas.

Democratising the collection

Improved physical access to the British Museum’s collection actively encourages innovative research across different cultures and time periods. Daylit study rooms provide ideal conditions for working with groups of archaeological objects. They facilitate research projects and university teaching as well as engagement with local schools and community groups. Well-considered high-density storage makes its own contribution to increased accessibility. BM_ARC is a hub for national and international loans, which are facilitated by wide corridors, strong floors, and large roller shutter doors that allow objects to be moved safely and efficiently throughout the building for preparation, packing and shipping.

The Art Works is intended to increase both the visibility and social relevance of the national collection – over 90,000 works ranging from early Renaissance painting to international modern and contemporary art. Alongside its climate-controlled stores, exhibition spaces, libraries, and a digital gallery allow the collection to be encountered in different contexts, and assembled for study in new interpretive schemes: a stimulating collision between objects, visitors and curators, and an experience that is both social and educational.

Both buildings find creative opportunity in the practical task of storage – activating places and collections, and giving every object the potential to speak. Care, study, and societal participation are all central to the mission. In conceptualising what were once ‘back-of-house’ facilities as an extension of the public domain, design for museums is not merely safeguarding objects; it is reshaping the cultural landscape.

Sarah Kirby is a director within the Education + Culture Unit at JMP; Peter Lee is an associate director in the Edinburgh studio of JMP