Natural History Museum, Quarantine Facility

The Quarantine facility at South Kensington is a key facility for the Museum’s Natural History collections as it provides a dedicated area for managed control of infestation risks to collections from incoming specimens. The facility has been designed around the process of quarantine, where specimens are delivered and unpacked before treatment by either freezing or heating. The facility houses a large 39 cubic metre freezer room, capable of treating material at -35oC, and a Hot Cold Chamber providing the added flexibility of treatment at temper­atures between -40oC and 60oC. 

The specialist equipment in this 160 square metre facility provides the flexibility to treat a large variety of specimens from the Museum’s Zoology, Entomology and Botany Collections. As part of the facility there is a clean room for the PEG team, designed to provide working space for conser­vation of specimens and mounts.