For security and environmental reasons, most state-of-the-art archives storing precious historic and municipal artefacts tend to be discreetly located in basements or in secure offsite facilities. By their nature, the architecture of these buildings tends to be insular and defensive, with the brutalist hulk of the National Archives at Kew or the imposing classical fortress of its US equivalent in Washington both prime examples.

It is surprising, therefore, to find an important archive facility conspicuously hoisted three storeys into the air on Europe’s largest bi-directional cantilever and encrusted in an undulating pattern of glass panels that makes it look like a pixelated jewel floating above the city. It is even more novel to see this archive facility as the conceptual anchor of a wide-ranging and ambitious cultural renovation project. A grade II-listed church, library and museum have been refurbished, expanded and installed around a new public square at the Box Plymouth.

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