British architects Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners have won a competition to build a research and conservation facility for the Louvre.

The new facility will be built in in Liévin in northern France and will house around 250,000 works of art from more than 60 different French locations.

The Musée du Louvre and the Nord-Pas de Calais region announced that RSH+P, known for the British Museum’s new World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre in London, will begin the €60m (US$66.1m, £43m) project in 2017. Scientists and researchers will be welcomed from the end of 2018.

The Louvre wants the facility to function as one of Europe’s largest study and research facilities and to protect the art works from flooding.

The architects designed a 20,000sq m (215,278 sq ft) landscape building, with a slightly sloping roof, fully covered with vegetation.

It combines light-filled spaces for people to work and art to circulate, and uses cutting-edge technology to guarantee stable climatic conditions for the proper conservation of the Louvre’s collections.

The Musée du Louvre will finance 51 per cent of the project, with the regional council of Nord-Pas de Calais providing 49 per cent.

Jean-Luc Martinez, president-director of the Musée du Louvre, said: “The consortium of architects, headed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, has succeeded in taking the specific needs of properly preserving and accessing the Louvre’s collections, and turning them into a first-class architectural creation.

“The architects also had people in mind when designing this light-filled space nestled in nature, taking into consideration the comfort level of the personnel who will work there, conducting research on the works of art. The new facility will be in perfect dialogue with its neighbour, the Louvre-Lens.”

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