The Borthwick Institute - Bespoke shelving and library tables

The Borthwick moved from the centre of York to a new building in Heslington attached to the University of York library facilities. The Borthwick provides academic and public access to a wide range of historic and rare records. Treske designed and made bespoke desking units to the Borthwick’s brief for the public archive search rooms. The five desks were made in ash and have specialist storage shelves at each end for filing boxes. One desk was made large enough at 4 metres long and 2 metres wide to allow parchments to be unrolled, while another had adjustable leg heights for disabled access.

The desks had to be very stable to avoid any “joggling” as people write and were to have no snagging points that could damage documents. Power points and network points were recessed into the surface of the desks to allow laptop access.

Bookshelving for the archive search rooms was also made in ash and to match the desks. Designed in a simple style the shelving was adjustable and sturdy, and now holds frequently accessed volumes and periodicals.