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Every year on October 27, we celebrate the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage, a day that reminds us that films, sound recordings, and broadcast archives are more than media, because they are our collective memory. While most conversations about preservation focus on digitization and data management, there’s another critical piece of the puzzle often overlooked: the physical infrastructure that makes preservation possible.‍

Preserving culture starts with how we build. Behind every digitization lab or broadcast archive is a well-designed space: one with controlled environments, stable power systems, and robust connectivity.  In essence, the walls, floors, and systems surrounding our technology are as vital as the technology itself. That’s where telecommunications, civil services, and AV infrastructure come together.

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“The museums of audiovisual storage are growing exponentially,” says Ski Skehan, Director of The Big Picture Group. “Data centres and fibre links are being upgraded. TBP is in the game of building those fibre links between data centers to enable this storage and more importantly—the accessibility of that storage by the greater community who want to access it and with speed.”

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Telecommunications: Preserving Access and Continuity

AV heritage isn’t just about the physical media, because it’s also about preserving accessibility to that content and ensuring that audiovisual materials remain accessible to future generations (and not just locked away on outdated formats). Telecommunications infrastructure enables long-term signal transmission, data storage, and remote access. Simply put, it provides the pathways through which audiovisual heritage travels and survives.

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Civil Works: Preserving the Physical Environment for AV Systems

Civil works ensure that audiovisual systems (whether in museums, campuses, or cultural centers) have a structural foundation that allows for their longevity. Proper infrastructure planning, power management, and environmental control (temperature, acoustics, vibration isolation) all protect AV installations from degradation over time. Civil design determines how cables are routed, how racks are cooled, how displays are mounted, and how future upgrades can be accommodated without tearing everything apart.

As technology continues to evolve, from AI to 8K media and real-time streaming, the need for stronger, smarter infrastructure becomes even more critical. As Ski explained, it all comes down to storage — massive, interconnected data centres linked by fibre optic networks across the world. This global connectivity forms the backbone of accessibility, ensuring that what’s created today can still be experienced tomorrow. It’s a mindset that lies at the heart of audiovisual heritage, preserving not just content but the systems that make it possible to share our stories across generations.

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Integration: Designing for Longevity

When AV, telecommunications, and civil works are integrated thoughtfully, the result is systemic preservation:

• The AV system captures and reproduces experiences faithfully.
• The telecom network ensures those experiences are distributed and archived securely.
• The civil infrastructure safeguards everything physically and environmentally.

At The Big Picture Group, preservation goes beyond audiovisual systems, it’s built into how we design, connect, and construct. Through telecommunications, we build networks that keep information and experiences accessible over time. Through civil works, we create the environments that protect and sustain technology. And through AV integration, we bring those experiences to life with clarity and precision. Together, these disciplines ensure that the stories, systems, and innovations of today remain strong foundations for tomorrow’s heritage.

Ski explains that TBP doesn’t focus on short-term bandaid fixes. The company’s philosophy is about playing the long game, building systems designed for the future, not just for today. That mindset shapes every project, where safety, quality, and reliability are non-negotiable. From hauling to handover, safety, compliance, and quality are built into every step. Even a small network fault can disrupt the systems that carry and store cultural data, so the team works with long-term performance always in mind.

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“We partner with larger companies who are playing the long game — installing large infrastructure that may seem excessive now, but will be required in the future,” he adds.

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At The Big Picture Group, preservation isn’t just about keeping media alive. It’s about ensuring that the infrastructure, the unseen network beneath it all, can carry our collective stories well into the future. Ski’s perspective is a powerful reminder that digital preservation doesn’t live in the cloud alone; it’s rooted in the ground beneath us. Every conduit, pit, and fibre line laid today forms part of a larger story that connects our past to our digital future. What we build lasts longer than we do. Our work may be technical, but it’s also deeply cultural, shaping the networks that protect, preserve, and pass on the stories that define us.