Museum Collection Storage + Library/SPARC, Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, NY

SAA was asked by FIT to provide programming and design services for two distinct departments, the FIT Museum and the FIT Library Special Collections/ Archive.

The existing Museum Collections storage spaces were overcrowded and did not provide room for future Collections growth. The main goals of the Museum Collection Storage project were to replace and reconfigure storage furniture to achieve logical, efficient configurations ant to upgrade mechanical and lighting systems to provide safe and protective storage environments for the Museum’s delicate costume, accessory, shoe, hat and textile collections. The new design provides state of the art climate control with redundancy and room for many years of growth.

The Library’s Special Collections/ Archive (“SPARC”) required a complete renovation to achieve state-of-the-art collection storage spaces and a suitable suite for scholarly study and processing. The new suite accommodates manuscripts, textile designs, monographs, periodicals, photographs, slides, and digital media. The dedicated mechanical system provides 60°F/40% RH conditions to the storage rooms, and 70°F/40% RH to the study room.

Client: Fashion Institute of Technology (SUNY), New York
Design Team: Kayt Brumder, K&L, Jeff Nash, Severud, Mark Peterson
Builder: Vanguard Construction, with Modern Office Furniture
Photographer: Amy Borkow