New approach for climate control in managing cultural collections housed in heritage buildings

Cultural objects in museum are usually kept in controlled environment which rely heavily on
air-conditioning systems to ensure that a stable climate is maintained in order to prevent the
objects from deterioration. But based on “content analysis” made on recent museum
guidelines and new methods on climate control, the notion that museum needs to have tight
control environment can be challenged. As many of heritage buildings were being converted
into museums, heavy changes were made to those buildings in order to accommodate the
air-conditioning systems. These lead to some of the architectural features and defining
characters being removed or altered. However those same features which were built to
response with the climatic conditions may help to contribute a better indoor environment for
the collections. Several visual observations made on selected case studies showed that they
were designed to deal with climate passively and able to regulate the temperature and
relative humidity, which can be utilized by the museums. This paper hopes to provide
answers and examples of how by incorporating passive design in converting heritage
buildings into museums not only can preserve the authenticity of the buildings, but also for
the benefits of preserving the cultural collections inside.