M. Tech. Architecture / The design of a digital, genealogical archival repository in Pretoria West for the preservation of South African family histories, that will inter alia, provide free public access to such archived material, is proposed. Oppression brought about by colonialism and apartheid in South Africa ultimately led to domination by one racial group, resulting in the inadequate documentation of the personal histories of the majority of the population; an omission which may be remediated by the archiving of family histories. Archival buildings are custodians of the valuable items of heritage for future generations. However, due to the strenuous and time intensive nature of the genealogical research process, the National Archives and Records Service does not, currently, effectively address this lack, which has led to this field of research being privately practiced. An archive of family history to be housed in Pretoria West, an industrial area characterised by vacant and abandoned buildings in need of intervention, is proposed. The design seeks to adapt a grain silo which forms a part of an old flour mill complex on Charlotte Maxeke Street. An exploration into the building's past as a place which stores, secures and protects the contents within it, led to its selection as a suitable host for an archive which will utilise the preservative functional logic of the silo as a place of storage and security.