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West Yorkshire Archive Building

Project Summary

Background

Quartzelec’s Leeds office secured a prestigious £1million contract for M&E works at the new West Yorkshire Archive Building, a £6.4million building in Wakefield being built specifically to house historical records of regional, national and international importance.

The building will eventually house over 10 million historical records over three floors. These will include the collections of the old West Yorkshire and West Riding Councils, and the current Wakefield district council. All the court proceedings of the former county of the West Riding, which was the third largest and most populous English county, will also be included along with a large collection of the National Coal Board’s mining records and the UNESCO-recognised files of the Stanley Royd Mental Health Hospital. 

Also incorporated is a ground floor level local history centre, which will offer a diverse programme of events, courses and opportunities for regional, local and family history engagement, and where groups can explore their heritage.

The Project

The scope of the contract, awarded by Bardsley Construction, includes hot and cold water services, building management services, a sophisticated access control solution, and a lighting and fire alarm system. Completion is scheduled for the end of February 2016, with the archive due to open shortly afterwards. 

Significant planning and preparation work was required for this iconic project and the challenge for Quartzelec; to assign a team of qualified engineers and electricians with the necessary mix of skills to deliver on all aspects of the contract.

The project, designed by architects Broadway Malyan, is being jointly funded by the five West Yorkshire Councils, West Yorkshire Joint Services and Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) which awarded a £3.9m grant.

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