Kier Construction has been chosen to deliver the new £14m Durham History Centre, designed by Ryder.
It will also include the relocation of Durham Register Office to the site.
The history centre will provide a secure future for more than five miles of county archives, charting almost 900 years of history, which are currently stored at County Hall. It will also provide a home for historic registration records, the historic environment record, local studies collections and the DLI collection.
Ryder and Kier have worked together on a number of schemes in the Durham area, including New College Durham’s STEM Building and Durham County Council Headquarters.