PRONI, Titanic Quarter, Belfast

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) is one of three national archive institutions in the UK. It unites the individual functions of document collection, preservation, management, storage and public access into one organisation.

The building was designed to reconcile differing objectives of the brief – to be welcoming to the public whilst providing security to priceless and irreplaceable documents; sustainable, environmentally friendly whilst maintaining strict climatic conditions for the storage of documents; robust yet uplifting and visually interesting for staff and users; and the desire for quality in design, material selection and finishes whilst exercising cost control and bringing added value.

It accommodates some 3000sqm of archival shelving held within the central repository, around which is wrapped 3 storeys of supporting accommodation, including multi-purpose exhibition spaces, public search and reading rooms, conservation laboratories, staff accommodation and ancillary facilities such as the café and meeting rooms.

The scheme achieved an ‘Excellent’ BREEAM rating with a score of 77.39%, which was the highest score archived by a public building in Northern Ireland at the time as well as receiving a Green Apple Award for Sustainability.

It also received an RIBA Design Award along with RSUA Awards for Design, Sustainability and Integrated Artwork.