2022 BAC Cataloguing Grant Winner

BAC is delighted to announce that the winner of the 2022 cataloguing grant for Business Archives is the Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) for cataloguing the archives of The Thorp Modelmaking Archive.

BAC was pleased to have received several applications with a very high standard of entries. After much discussion, the judges came to a unanimous decision and felt that AUB’s cataloguing project would make a real difference, was achievable and realistic, and would lead to further projects and initiatives.  The educational outreach programme was well planned and clearly thought out to achieve a number of outcomes. 

The Thorp Modelmaking Archive is the complete company archive of Thorp Modelmakers from their founding in 1883 to their purchase by ATOM in 1996.  The company made around 10,000 architectural models ranging from an early model of Covent Garden Market in 1900 through to models of a proposed housing estate in Sussex in 1996.  Founded by John Thorp in 1883, Thorp Modelmakers was the first dedicated architectural modelmaking firm in the world.  The profession of architectural modelmaking that exists today was established as a result of the success of John Thorp’s company.  The archive is one of only two known collections relating to the profession of architectural modelmaking in the world.  The archive has the potential to be a unique research resource for the study of the history of modelmaking as a profession.  The collection also has potential wider benefits in terms of studying the history of architecture and the built environment, civic planning and property development.  In particular the archive provides a unique record of building designs that were never built, such as Edwin Lutyens’ proposal for Liverpool Cathedral dating to 1936, and Richard Seifert’s proposal for Cromwell Road in London dating to 1973.  Access to the archive will promote a greater sense of identity within the modelmaking profession, though a better understanding of its historical development. This includes current and former students on AUB’s world leading BA (Hons) Modelmaking degree course, one of only five in the world.

The University has pledged additional funding to complete the cataloguing project as the archive is comprised of a wide range of mediums including:

  • Approx. 15,000 photographs and approx. 500 glass plate negatives of architectural models, modelmakers at work, and the studio and workshops dating between 1900 and 1996.
  • Approx. 10,000 negatives and slides of architectural models dating between 1950 and 1996, including an extensive collection of images of the company’s work on Middle Eastern architectural projects during the 1970s.
  • Approx. 40 sales, payroll, and expense ledgers.
  • Approx. 2000 business documents including invoices, letters, and marketing materials.
  • 7 audio/visual recordings of modelmakers at work in the 1920s

Professor Paul Gough, Vice-Chancellor at Arts University Bournemouth commented: 

“AUB is absolutely delighted to have been awarded the Business Archives Council grant for 2022.  This grant will help us to buy in archival expertise to complete the documentation of more than 30,000 items within the Thorp Archive.” 

He added: “This project will help to make a century’s worth of material searchable and available to researchers and the public, opening opportunities for architectural modelmakers to explore their heritage and history.  The archive will provide us a unique window into architectural history, offering extraordinary insights into the changing social, cultural, and urban landscape of Britain through the 20th century.”

BAC is proud to support this project, particularly at a time of increased pressure on cultural resources when the need to develop, promote and encourage greater use of such resources has never been more important.

For more information on The Thorp Modelmaking Archive please follow this link: https://aub.ac.uk/our-research/research-archive