page_title: The Keep, Brighton
section_title: Construction
hierarchical_section_title: The Keep, Brighton / Construction
caption_attribution_description: The Keep under construction in December 2012, viewed from the north on the A270 Lewes Road. The Keep is an archive and historical resource centre situated at Woollards Field, between Moulsecoomb and Falmer, on the edge of the City of Brighton and Hove, England. It will open in 2013 and will house East Sussex County Council's archives and records (going back over 900 years) and various other sets of historical documents and objects.
context_page_description: The Keep is a purpose built archive and historical resource centre which stores, conserves and gives the public access to the records of its three managing partners: The East Sussex Record Office, The University of Sussex Special Collections, and the Royal Pavilion and Museums Local History Collections. The Keep also houses the library and office of The Sussex Family History Group, functions as headquarters of Friends of The Keep Archives, and holds the Historic Environment Record database for East Sussex. From November 2018, it has also functioned as the South East Hub for the Unlocking Our Sound Heritage project for The British Library. It was funded by East Sussex County Council, the City Council of neighbouring Brighton and Hove and the University of Sussex, and was built on land close to the University in the Moulsecoomb area of Brighton and Hove. The building, constructed with a budget of £19 million, opened on 31 October 2013, superseding the former East Sussex Record Office in the county town of Lewes.
context_section_description: East Sussex County Council and Brighton & Hove City Council put the scheme out to competitive tender and commissioned the Kier Southern (Kier Longley) division of Kier Group as its preferred building contractor. Atkins were chosen as the scheme architects; they have been involved in the design of archive facilities since 1991, including the Berkshire Record Office and the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre.  Both were designed with the principle of keeping the archive storage and the public areas separate while maintaining a consistent architectural style, which was also the intention with The Keep.  The provisions of BS 5454 (the British Standard consisting of "recommendations for the storage and exhibition of archival documents") and the wishes of The National Archives also influenced the design process. Other companies involved with the design and construction process included GTA Civils Ltd, who undertook transport and flood risk assessments; Lizard Landscape Design, who were involved with environmental analysis such as landscape assessments, ecological planning, arboricultural investigation and site photography; Ashdown Site Investigation Ltd, who carried out site contamination analysis; and Archaeology South East (part of the Institute of Archaeology, University College London), who undertook archaeological investigation at Woollards Field.
  The scheme budget was originally set at £23.6 million. The committee sought National Lottery money through a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund, but this was turned down in December 2008. This created a £4.9 million shortfall, and the budget was later revised to £19 million. A grant received in respect of installing photovoltaic electricity generating equipment subsequently increased the available funds to £19,142,000, of which £17,910,000 was allocated to construction and capital expenditure and the remaining £1,232,000 to other costs such as marketing, planning and payments to professionals.  £12 million was provided by East Sussex County Council.
  Planning permission for the development was given on 14 January 2011, and construction work started on 7 October 2011 after a turf-cutting ceremony. Just under a year later, on 1 October 2012, the roof was finished and a topping out ceremony took place.  At that time, it was stated that the building was expected to be finished at the end of 2013, although East Sussex County Council's timeline anticipated completion in early 2013 and a public opening later in the year. Brighton and Hove City Council stated in March 2013 that the former Brighton History Centre near the Royal Pavilion in the city centre would close on 1 April 2013 to allow about 350,000 items to be transferred to The Keep in time for its public opening. In June 2013, when construction work finished and the building's owners took possession of it, the official opening date was set at November 2013. Queen Elizabeth II performed the official opening on 31 October 2013 during a visit to Sussex.
  The building has three storeys and a gross floor area of 5,433 square metres (58,480 sq ft).  A separate "Energy Centre" adds another 216 square metres (2,330 sq ft) to The Keep's footprint. The main building is intended to have capacity for 20 years worth of records; a further 14 years worth of capacity could be added with an extension at the southwest side, for which provision has been made in the design.  Up to 270 public users and 35 members of staff can accommodated: the maximum capacities of the lecture rooms and reading rooms are 155 and 115 respectively.  Architecturally, The Keep is a rectangular structure with pale brickwork and some rendering, metal-framed windows and doors, a silver metal roof with areas of vegetation and wildflowers, and an "embossed concrete frieze" near the roofline to "create additional visual interest and ... break down the mass of the block".  The building is 14 metres (46 ft) high, 73 metres (240 ft) long and 32.5 metres (107 ft) wide.  The design is said to reflect that of "many educational buildings which have been developed in a similar architec
caption: The building (pictured in December 2012) is next to the A270 Lewes Road.
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