Islington Museum

ISLINGTON’S PAST SECURED!
 

Security, durability and visibility were what Islington Museum needed from the new storage systems it was to purchase as part of its recent ambitious refurbishment programme.

The systems also had to be suitable for housing a large variety of artefacts that help to tell the story of Islington’s past. These include ceramics, glass, costumes and many diverse social history items in a wide range of sizes.

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In line with standard local government practice, Islington Museum invited three companies to tender for the work. According to Cheryl Smith, Islington’s Heritage Manager, System Store Solutions not only offered very competitive prices, but was also the most imaginative of the companies in terms of the way it proposed to use the limited space available.

“In addition, we were impressed by the flexibility of the equipment on offer from System Store Solutions,” said Cheryl, “and by its high quality of construction. We very much needed an installation that not only looked good, but would also provide dependable protection for our collections.” As supplied, Islington’s new storage system comprises FSR shelving with drawers, FST shelving with drawers and sliding Clearview glazed doors, wall-mounted mesh panels for storing pictures and a mobile workstation. To guard against unauthorised access to the collections, all drawers and doors are lockable.

“Throughout the project, System Store Solutions was a very easy company to deal with,” said Cheryl, “even though we inadvertently tested its flexibility to the limit! As the result of last-minute changes to the architectural plans for the storage area, we suddenly found the height available for the storage systems was a full half metre less than we had expected.”

“This late change involved System Store Solutions in a lot of extra work,” she continued, “but the company was both helpful and happy to accommodate our needs. Service like that is certainly not easy to find!”

Installation of the new storage systems at Islington Museum has recently been completed, with the museum reporting that the work was carried out efficiently and smoothly, with an absolute minimum of disruption.

“Our new storage systems are nothing short of fantastic,” said Cheryl, “they look good, they allow us to show off artefacts to the best advantage while keeping them secure, and they’re flexible enough to accommodate any foreseeable change in our requirements.”