The EV Government Cabinet approved the concept of the museum’s heritage repository on October 4, 2018. The Ministry of Culture stands for funding the establishment of the Heritage Conservancy by applying for project funding in the state budget strategy for the 2024-2026 period. In 2022, an analysis of the services of the heritage repository was prepared, and by the beginning of 2023, the design of the open repository service of the heritage repository was ready.
If everything goes according to plan, new warehouses that meet today’s requirements could open their doors in 2028-2029. in the year. But first, it needs to be designed and built.
The preservation of Estonia’s priceless cultural values will be endangered if we do not improve the storage conditions. Quite often, museums are not even stored in warehouses, but in specially adapted rooms or buildings where it is not possible to influence the climate and fire safety is not guaranteed.
Today, only 30% of the storage area meets the requirements for the long-term preservation of cultural values (state museums under the administration of the Ministry of Culture and museums using the museum collection belonging to the state under an administrative contract are taken into account).
Peeter Mauer, project manager for the Heritage Board:
“For me, the heritage storage project means the beginning of a new era. The heritage storage combines solutions to the common problem of many museums – which is to ensure the long-term preservation of culturally valuable objects. Today, only a third of the museum storage rooms meet the climate, security and fire safety requirements that ensure long-term preservation. The heritage storage will create a single, comprehensive and a sustainable system for museum storage and heritage care.
By its very nature, the heritage repository is a joint repository of museums, where all parties contribute to the preservation of the collections. In addition, possibilities have been created for conservation and digitization of museums. It is important that all those interested, in addition to visiting museum exhibitions, have the opportunity to come and get acquainted with the objects, photos and documents stored in the collections.”
Ants Lusti, Identity strategist:
“Identity’s goal was to design the service from start to finish with corresponding plans and a conceptual vision. We achieved the final understanding of what was to be created by synthesizing Peetri’s input from the experiences of specialists from various museums. We aimed to make it understandable what the Heritage Repository is, why it is needed, or what is its strategic importance.”
Peeter Mauer, project manager for the Heritage Board:
“Identity’s task was to build the general concept of the open storage of the South Estonian heritage repository planned on the Raad property, together with the corresponding strategic solutions. The strategic solutions included: the service concept of the open storage, space concept, service user profiles, user journeys, trends in the design of open storage, etc.
From the moment the competition was announced, we wanted to see a strong partner by our side, who has a large wealth of experience and a broad knowledge base related to the opportunities offered by the cultural field and strategic design.”
Peeter Mauer, project manager for the Heritage Board:
“As a magnet for the culture-interested audience, it can be held open, which allows everyone to get to know the museums in the museum collections. This is a big challenge in preserving and making our culture available. Currently, there are about 4.5 million museum-cultural objects in the collections of the country’s museums, of which only a small part can be seen in expositions and exhibitions. The open repository allows the public to access “hidden treasures”. We want everyone interested to be able to see, explore and use the cultural heritage that belongs to all of us. In the heritage repository, this becomes possible in close cooperation with all museums.”
Ants Lusti, Identity strategist:
“There were several elements of this project that were extraordinary. First of all, the fact that a public sector institution approached a private agency with the project at such an early stage. In normal practice, the architectural element is built and later the conceptual details are worked on. the concept of the service with the heritage protection board and Identity, and later a real building will be completed, where all the described processes will actually start to work.”
Ants Lusti, Identity strategist:
“Recently, the topics of thinking about the future and sustainability have been particularly important in almost all areas. I am glad that the Heritage Board has taken a direction where projects are carried out with a future orientation. Larger associations and sector leaders make strategic decisions that reflect the result in the future.”
Peeter Mauer, project manager for the Heritage Board:
“Looking at the volume of the planned building and specifics, we decided to anticipate all possible situations and to look to the future. The conceptual user profiles of Pärandihoidla have also been made with a careful eye, observing today’s users and possible future trends. Strategically, the design of the concept is an important proactive process to anticipate future changes.
The end of the construction of the open storage of the heritage repository is planned for 2027-2030, which means that there are still at least 4-7 years until the actual opening. Since it is difficult to predict the future very precisely, the project is therefore exceptional. Will everything work out or will major changes be made? We will see this more precisely in the future.”