Culture & Knowledge
The United States Olympic Committee Archives
A collection celebrating American Olympic achievement called for spaces that bring supervised scholarly study and carefully controlled access together.
- Location
- Colorado Springs, Colorado
- CSNA’s work
- Archive planning, supervised study, and controlled collection access
- Related expertise
- Culture & Knowledge
American Olympic Championship
The Archives Story
The United States Olympic Committee Archives preserves objects that tell the story of American Olympic achievement. The Archives are not open to the public. Our challenge was to support scheduled scholarly study while maintaining carefully controlled access to a rare and varied collection.
Within the United States Olympic Headquarters in Colorado Springs, successive security checkpoints protect the collection, with an additional level of control for its rarest objects. Understanding the purpose of the Archives, we developed a plan that combines visual connections with distinct levels of controlled access.
A small reading room accommodates scheduled visitors examining collection materials. It shares a glass wall with the Archivist’s office, allowing the Archivist to supervise scholars’ use of the objects. Another glass wall connects the office visually to the Archives, enabling oversight of activities within the collection spaces as well.
Carefully placed glass walls make the work visible while keeping access controlled.
The collection ranges from a bobsled and a Paralympic competition wheelchair to books, posters, correspondence, competition and ceremonial clothing, and sporting equipment. A secured storage room houses the Olympic torches and medals of the Gordy Crawford Family collection, which supplies exhibits for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs.
Sensitive climate control, waterless fire protection, and layered security support the collection’s preservation. By bringing supervised study and careful preservation together, the design helps scholars explore the stories these objects carry while safeguarding them for generations to come.
American Olympic Championship: The United States Olympic Committee Archives story.
