BUILDING ARCHITECTURE

Different phases of the building

Creation 1966: The initial building, designed by the architects Charles Musetti and José Levasseur, Architectes des Bâtiments Civils et des Palais Nationaux - architects of public buildings and national palaces, was inaugurated on 6 October 1966. Originally in the foreground on the ground floor was the public building and administration (the inventory room and then further back the archive consultation room and offices). As for the archives, they were stored in a perpendicular building over 5 floors and 18,000 linear metres of shelving.

This new Archives d'Outre-Mer Repository was inaugurated on 6 October 1966 in the presence of André Malraux.

First extension 1986: The transfer of collections from the Overseas Territories section of the Archives Nationales (previous Ministry for the Colonies and then for French Overseas Territories) was to involve restructuring and extensions to the warehouses. A new building was erected beside the existing building which doubled its capacity. The architect Claude Aureau was responsible for this.

The extension brought the linear total of archiving to 43 km of shelves, 25 for the pre-existing repository and 18 for the new repository. The extension enabled a new archive repository to be built on 5 levels with a photographic laboratory, a laboratory for restoration and rebinding and an annex room for reading microfilms.

Second extension 1996: Enlargement of areas open to the public (reception, reading room, exhibition hall, cafeteria) was carried out in 1996 by the architects Thierry Lacoste, Antoinette Robain and Claire Guieysse, and paid for by the Équerre d'Argent 1996 (Prix de la Première Oeuvre awarded by the magazine"Le Moniteur").

ANOM - Building facade - Extension 1996