About the Client:
The Whitworth is an art gallery based in Manchester, England that was established in 1889 following a donation from Sir Joseph Whitworth. Initially opened as ‘The Whitworth Institute and Park’ the current building in Whitworth Park was completed in 1908. In 1958 the gallery became part of the Victoria University of Manchester, now known as The University of Manchester.
The Gallery contains a collection of over 60,000 items including notable collections of watercolours, sculptures, wallpapers and textiles. It houses several major historic works by Thomas Gainsborough, Alexander and John Robert Cozens, and Thomas Girtin.
In 2015, the Whitworth reopened after it was transformed by a £15 million capital redevelopment that doubled its exhibition spaces, restored period features and opened itself up to its surrounding park.
The exterior of the Whitworth Gallery’s impressive Victorian building
The Whitworth displays artworks in constantly changing exhibitions
Requirements:
During 2013 the Whitworth Art Gallery embarked on a £15M extension and refurbishment project. The aim was to provide vastly more museum space for the general public, but also to consolidate their collections in to a single safe space.
The gallery collections were stored within various locations spread across the gallery and other buildings. The ultimate vision of the Whitworth team was to create a gallery that was more accessible to the Manchester public, and to create artwork storage environments that were specialist to the needs of the collections. In terms of the storage, their vision was to have a selection of systems that would house the collections in an accessible manor (to increase retrieval times), but equally preserve the them for future generations.
After a tough tender process and extensive competition Rackline’s project team won out and were successfully awarded the Whitworth Museum tender.
Solution – A Huge Selection of Art Storage :
Rackline brought its open-minded design approach, working closely with each individual collections curator to establish their requirements and those of the collection. While initial data for collection types, sizes and quantities were provided by the Whitworth team, Rackline’s project team undertook a detailed audit of the vast inventory, logging item numbers, types, sizes and any specialist requirements, this would then allow them to align the storage solutions to the exact needs of the gallery.
From the audit Rackline’s team devised a series of concepts to fit the storage requirements for both standard and non-standard collections. These solutions would be installed into the newly built Collections Zone which consisted of 3 large rooms and a Study Centre.
In brief the Rackline designs incorporated:
- Multitrak and Monotrak Mobile Art Storage – Fitted with Shelves, drawers and roll holders.
- Pull out picture racking, for both paintings and other hung artworks.
- Mesh Picture Panel racking fitted with roll holders.
- Plan chest drawer units – Fitted into the mobile bases.
- Tailored artwork storage solutions to meet the needs of individual items.
Rackline worked closely with the Whitworth project team throughout all stages of design, installation and the transfer of collections to the new stores. Post installation Rackline’s teams have a close working relationship with The Whitworth, supporting them with any issues and any changes they require.
The Result:
The shelving, racking and bespoke artwork storage solutions installed by Rackline have supported The Whitworth gallery in the creation of high density, efficient and secure storage areas. With their advanced features, the collection is now safe, while also being simple to access and retrieve for its team. Rackline’s design also created space to allow for future collections expansion, a critical requirement of the collections team.
“We were very impressed by Andy Reed, the Rackline designer who made an excellent assessment of our overall collection size and needs, listened carefully to our requests and design suggestions, and responded appropriately. The initial design proposal accommodated all our existing systems and provided for everything we currently store, plus giving us extra capacity – the design made highly efficient use of the space throughout. We have continued and will continue to work closely with Rackline to add to and improve the storage systems as our storage needs develop and evolve.”
Nicola Walker – Head of Collection Care & Access, the Whitworth / Manchester Museum
To find out more about Rackline’s Artwork Storage solutions or our solutions for Museums, Heritage and Archives (including Mobile Shelving, Compact High Density Static Shelving and Archive Shelving) then get in touch on 01782 770144 or fill in the form below.