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About Bruynzeel
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Highlights
creating a highly flexible storage solution
Royal Armouries Museum
The Royal Armouries is the United Kingdom’s national museum of arms and armour, with roots tracing back to the 14th century. It holds one of the oldest and most significant collections of arms and armour artefacts in the world. Spread across three key locations – Leeds, the Tower of London, and Fort Nelson in Portsmouth – the museum safeguards and shares the country’s rich arms and armour heritage.
A major step forward
In 2025, the Royal Armouries in Leeds took a major step forward in how it cares for and stores part of its extensive firearms collection. Partnering with Bruynzeel Storage Systems, the museum has redefined what efficient, specialist storage looks like – blending precision engineering with deep curatorial knowledge.
A National Collection, stored with precision
The storage facility in Leeds plays a key role in housing and preserving firearms and their accessories from all over the world. This latest project was spearheaded by a team of conservators, project officers, and Senior Firearms Curator Mark MurrayFlutter, who oversaw the full design and installation process. Their aim: to create a cohesive, flexible and space-efficient system tailored specifically to the needs of the collection.
The result is a fully custom-built storage solution, capable of housing 2,500 to 3,000 rifles alongside related accessories—each carefully stored in blue conservationgrade boxes above the weapons. In addition, storage was provided for a multitude of bayonets, pennants, ammunition cases, heavy machine guns, bazookas and a host of related items in a range of drawers, long span shelving, heavy duty cantilever racking and pallet racking. Before the upgrade, these items were kept in outdated systems that no longer met the museum’s needs. The new design not only improves accessibility and protection but also brings a clear, structured approach to storing complex and varied objects.
Designed from Scratch for Maximum Flexibility
From the start, it was clear that this wasn’t going to be a standard solution. As Bruynzeel’s Northern UK Sales Manager Richard Tong explained, “We’ve worked with many
arms and armour museums, but this project was unique in scale and complexity. It meant going back to the drawing board. The clients’ vision of how the rifles should be stored, supported and angled was exacting, with a lot of boxes to tick.”
Working closely with the Royal Armouries team, Bruynzeel’s technical experts developed several layout options, refining them through ongoing collaboration. For the actual rifle support system this meant starting the design from scratch and installing a prototype on site for the client to critically comment on, meaning a further prototype which was eventually approved. Flexibility was a key driver in the design. The result is a modular system with heightadjustable shelving, angled cutouts made from conservation-grade Plastazote, and specially engineered bases that gently tilt the weapons into a stable resting position – ensuring both safety and preservation.
Custom Engineering Meets Conservation Care
Every detail of the new system was built with conservation in mind. The angled Plastazote inserts accommodate everything from slim to wide rifle stocks, and the slight backward tilt of each base prevents any accidental tipping. These details may seem small, but they make a significant difference for the long-term care of the collection.The collaborative process between Bruynzeel and the museum team led to a solution that is both bespoke and highly practical – providing peace of mind to curators and conservators while allowing easy access and organisation.
A Partnership Built on Shared Expertise
This project stands as a strong example of how technical expertise and curatorial insight can come together to solve complex challenges. The Royal Armouries brought indepth knowledge of the collection and its needs. Bruynzeel delivered tailored engineering, flexibility, and smart thinking to bring the vision to life.Together, Bruynzeel and The Royal Armouries Museum have created a modern storage solution that protects the past – while making it more accessible for the future.
