The expanding assortment encompasses many forms of material, such as publications, books, sketches, etchings, paperwork, models, images, and prints.

[9][10] Edward McParland and Nicholas Robinson founded the National Trust Archive in 1976, with Nick Sheaf appointed the first director, and premises at 63 Merrion Square.

[1] Alistair Rowan was appointed director in 1981, and the organisation was renamed the Irish Architectural Archive and moved to number 73 Merrion Square.

[1] A dedicated new headquarters at 45 Merrion Square, a Georgian building and the former home of Gustavus Hume constructed in 1794, was restored between 2002 and 2004 for use as an archive by the Office of Public Works.

[citation needed] They include more than 250,000 architectural drawings, ranging in date from the late seventeenth to the twentieth centuries.

The installation featured a collection of images, architectural schematics and designs, maps and elevations, film clips, and salvaged records.

[20][21] In September 2022, Robert O'Byrne, an architecture blogger, donated a comprehensive digital collection of photographs he had captured from 2012 to 2022 to the IAA.