City of Madison Archive

Project overview

A proposed civic archive for the city of Madison, Wisconsin. Designed to consolidate the city's books, manuscripts, and maps from scattered library collections into a single, purpose-built home. The building balances secure, climate-conscious preservation with genuine public accessibility, making the archive a destination for researchers and casual visitors alike.

Details

The Program The building houses archival storage, a reading room, gallery space, a café, offices, and collaborative work areas. A dedicated digital access suite allows the public to explore scanned documents on-site without handling the physical materials, keeping the most sensitive items secure while ensuring the collection remains open to everyone.

The Concept The three-story building is organized around a thematic progression through time. The basement is devoted to storage — the preserved past, held quietly below ground. The ground floor is the building's active heart, where the public engages with the collection in the present. The top floor is oriented toward the future, housing spaces for preservation practice, discussion, and the long-term stewardship of the collection.

Sustainability The structure is built around CLT panels, and passive solar design is central to the architecture. The roof overhang is calibrated so that the summer sun barely penetrates the facade, while the lower winter sun reaches deep into the building's entrance, reducing heating loads through the seasons without mechanical intervention.

Specifications