Archives Départmentales de l'Isère

A historical treasure drove has moved to a new venue

The Archives Départmentales de l’Isère in Grenoble, certainly ranking among the foremost public archives in France, have moved to new quarters. Before the new building was opened in early July, the deposits were shipped from their former home stored on 39 kilometres of stacks to their new shelves made by Samodef-Forster.

Founded during the French Revolution, the venerable Archives d’Isère in the inner city of Grenoble preserve public and private records for the general public. Over the past 200 years, several million documents have been assembled, some of them dating back to the 11^th century. The building has reached the limits of its capacities and a new building was inevitable – and it was fitted with Samodef-Forster archive shelves.

Stored for eternity ...

The point of archives is to preserve documents in good condition and in proper order. Some documents are microfilmed because of their fragility, others are being restored, but most are kept in stores where temperature and humidity are controlled, protected from light and dust. But the documents need to be easily accessible in the long term, and the Forster archiving system offers exactly what is needed.

Space-saving and protected …

Most of the shelving used at the Archives d’Isère is of the FOREG^® 2000 series of mobile shelving. This allows for optimal space utilisation in the rooms, as aisles open up only when and where needed. The shelving adapts perfectly to the individual requirements. Various sizes, frames and end panels, as well as a large range of fittings and accessories provide an exactly customised environment for all types of archived goods. Audio-visual media, photographs and chronicles are systematically stored, as are large-format cadastre maps and posters, which are now kept in 270 map cabinets of 15 drawers each that hold formats up to A0.

Future-proof …

With a useful space of 14,000 square metres and a total capacity of 70 km of storage space, the new building will accommodate future stocks for many decades to come. The shelves contribute their part, not just because they are extraordinarily robust but also because new ones can be added at any time and spare components will be available for decades after the initial delivery.