It is a far cry from the iconic Dounreay dome but this is the striking building that could now provide a new landmark on the Caithness skyline.
The distinctive triangle-shaped centre on the edge of Wick will house millions of documents telling the story of the UK nuclear industry.
The items will include archives about the history of Caithness and the story of Dounreay.
Around 30 new jobs will be created at the £20million facility planned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).
The plans, which are several years in the making, are expected to clear another hurdle next week when they are considered by members of the Highland Council’s north planning applications committee.
Planning officials have recommended that the proposals be approved by members, subject to a list of conditions covering landscaping, drainage and transport.
One condition is that the 30mph zone on Ackergill Street should be extended to include the public access to the centre.
The 13 acre site on Ackergill Street is opposite Wick Airport, and was formerly used for RAF married quarters. These buildings were demolished in 1986 and the area is now grassland.
The entrance to the building will be sheltered by screens, creating the point of the triangle and inside the courtyard will be a small pond.
The building itself will include a public area, comprising a reception, community room, reading rooms, offices and space for conservation workshops.
There will also be a substantial section devoted entirely to storage of the archives.
This part of the building will be built from precast concrete to ensure the stable conditioned environment required for an archive.
No one from the NDA was available for comment yesterday but according to their planning application, the building will hold between 20 and 30 million digital records and around 28,000 linear metres (17miles) of paper and photographic records.
These will primarily concern the history, development and decommissioning of the UK’s civil nuclear industry since the 1940s.
The existing Wick-based Caithness archive is also to be relocated to the new facility.
An NDA spokeswoman said: “The NDA is creating the archive in Wick as a secure and appropriate archive for storing and managing records from all the civil nuclear sites in the UK including Dounreay, Sellafield and all the Magnox sites.
“Currently records are largely held and managed on our sites. At Dounreay they are managed in a building that is due to be decommissioned later in the current programme.
“The new archive in Wick will provide long term management and secure storage of the records, as NDA sites go through decommissioning.”
She added that a commercial partner, including expert archivists, would be appointed to manage the facility and the records.
A contractor will be appointed to build the facility later this month and the building is due to be completed in late 2016.
The spokeswoman added: “In addition, the NDA has worked in partnership with Highland Council to ensure that the Caithness archive, or North Highland archive, will also be relocated to the new premises. The Caithness archives, some dating back to the 15th century, are currently located in cramped and unsuitable accommodation.
“Public access is an important feature of the archive, and our stakeholders have welcomed the decision to base the UK archives in Wick as an important socio-economic contribution to the area as it will bring a number of long term jobs to Caithness.”
In a report to go before councillors on Tuesday, planner Emma Forbes said that the building design was “bold, distinctive and contemporary”.