Museum Storage Solutions
Preserving & Protecting Your Museum Collections
For many, their local museum is the pathway to learning more about the history and culture of their community and – in some cases – their descendants. Spacesaver understands the mission of your museum is to preserve and protect the artifacts entrusted in your care, and our mission is to help you do this as efficiently and securely as possible. We support institutions of all sizes in their efforts to manage risk, boost community engagement, optimize space, and stretch limited budgets.
Boost Engagement
As museums seek new ways to engage with their communities, Spacesaver is a proud partner in developing creative solutions for visible storage. Our local distributors work with architects and designers, as well as our in-house project management teams, to create systems that promote engagement while still maintaining the highest standards in collections care.
Learn how the Arizona State Museum helped visitors understand the breadth and depth of its renowned Southwest pottery and basketry collections.
Optimize Museum Space
Space gets tight when collections grow, and this can result in cramped work areas for staff and less-than-optimal environmental conditions for collections. Optimizing space in collections areas helps promote efficiency, maintain organization, and protect collections.
Increase Density
High-density mobile storage systems, often called “compactors,” eliminate empty aisle space by mounting shelving or cabinets on carriages that move along rails.
Innovative Design
Columns, ductwork, overhead sprinkler systems, and other structural obstacles pose unique challenges. Our consultants design storage systems that comply with applicable codes while still making the best use of available space.
Optimize Space
Our flexible manufacturing processes enable us to manufacture shelving and art racks of virtually any height, allowing our clients to take full advantage of the vertical space in their facilities.
Maximize Your Museum's Budget
We help institutions large and small make the best use of their space and their budget. Many of our clients find that our free space planning services, ability to repurpose their footprint, and attention to detail. Our complimentary planning services, ability to repurpose space, and attention to detail help to maximize our clients’ funding resources.
Planning & Project Management Services
Spacesaver’s network of local distributors, backed up by our in-house planning and project management teams, offers unparalleled service and attention to detail. Getting your local Spacesaver consultant involved in the early planning stage can help to ensure you are maximizing your available space. They can even create preliminary drawings to show to potential funding sources and project partners.
A Phased Approach
Part of the space planning process involves projecting future growth, even if funding is unavailable at the time of renovation or construction. Sometimes, for instance, rails for high-density systems are installed during construction and carriages are added years later, when collections have grown and more funding is available.
The Columbia River Maritime Museum pursued a similar strategy, installing a rail system that could support full-height shelving, but required only shorter shelving at the time of installation. By doing so, the system will be able to accommodate the museum’s growing collections and an investment in taller shelves when the time of need arrives.
Repurposing Existing Museum Space
Our engineering and manufacturing teams can design and build new cabinets, shelving, drawers, trays, and other storage equipment to integrate seamlessly with your institution’s existing assets. For instance, we worked with the Chicago Field Museum to design and build cabinets that accommodated entomology drawers that the institution already owned.
Museum-Specific Storage Solutions
920 Series: Preservation Cabinet
Versatility Built In
Protect the past and prepare for the future with the 920 Series’ sturdy modular frames and interchangeable liners.
Art Storage Racks
Hanging Art Storage
We offer six main types of art rack systems, including our Mod-Glider Pro™, to provide compact storage solutions for fine art.
Museum Storage Cabinets
Built Around Your Collection
We understand that no collection is standard, and we’ll help design a storage solution to fit your collection, your facility, and your day-to-day processes.
4-Post Shelving With Trays & Drawers
A Place For Everything
The Nantucket Drawer & Tray system is a value-engineered alternative for use in our Museum Cabinets.
Risk Management in Museums
Knowing the value museum exhibits provide to their patrons, institutions are exploring new ways to respond effectively to fires, flooding, and other disasters in collections storage areas. In addition, they are uncovering methods to mitigate damage caused by everyday challenges like pests, overhandling, chemical deterioration, and exposure to light.
Spacesaver and our team of experts have been working with museum curators and staff for decades, continually expanding our systems’ ability to better store artifacts and serve patrons. See some of the ways we’ve worked to ensure our systems will stand the test of time, temperature, and all the trials the museum environment can and will throw at them.
Preparedness training helps responders not only preserve collections, but also minimize their physical risk and manage psychological distress.
Disaster Recovery Training
Overcrowded collections areas are a common challenge in museums, archives, and special collections areas.
Preventing Overcrowding
Coolers and freezers provide the best possible preservation environment for film and a variety of other materials, so they’re essential components of most museums’ risk management strategies.
Cold Storage Protection
Limiting unnecessary light exposure is always a major concern as museums seek to balance collection preservation with access to the collection.
Limited Light ExposureMuseum Purchasing Agreements and Buying Contracts
Spacesaver’ museum storage products can be purchased at significant savings through GSA contracts, various state contracts, Sourcewell, and OMNIA Partners.
