Historical Architecture Meets Modern Construction & Equipment

Sitting on 65 acres in the hills of Santa Clarita, this $180 million facility is designed primarily for the storage, research and work related to film preservation. The Archive contains many of America’s most precious vintage movies like a first print of “Casablanca”. Although the exterior mirrors classical Greek architecture and the interior resembles 15th century Italian monasteries and convents, Sunbelt Controls is honored to have delivered the ultra-modern, best-in-class controls that help preserve the history of U.S. multi-media.

In Phase I, Sunbelt Controls was asked to demonstrate that we could integrate Automated Logic products to Siemens. After successfully integrating all of Phase 1, we were awarded the rest of the controls portion of the project. This included integrating 12 air handlers, chilled and heating hot water plant and 92 custom fan coil units.

This project involved highly technical integration conditions. Rigorous attention to detail and the precise management of a large amount of equipment to very exacting specifications was paramount. Very narrow tolerances leaves no room for error in managing this facility — for example, there are 120 storage vaults that must maintain a temperature of 38 degrees Celcius for optimal film preservation. Over the course of two years of construction, our designers and the project design teams worked as one with to develop the optimal control sequencing. The result: successful controls integration for what stands today as the second largest multi-media archive in the U.S.

Project Details

Owner:  The Packard Institute (PHI)

Date:  2014

Customer Segment:  Museum / Cultural

Project Type:  Design-Assist, Controls

Architect:  BAR Architects

General Contractor:  Morley Builders

Mechanical Contractor:  Sheldon Mechanical

Controls Contractor:  Sunbelt Controls