The CA–O–RD (Contemporary Architecture Open Research Data) project aims to ensure the long-term preservation and FAIR accessibility of selected digital archives held at the Archives de la construction moderne (Acm), a research unit at EPFL dedicated to architectural and engineering heritage. Over 4 TB of born-digital and digitized content has been collected by the Acm over the years, much of it stored on obsolete or unmanaged media such as CD-Rs, DVDs and external hard drives. These materials are at risk of loss and remain largely inaccessible for research. To address this, the project implemented Archivematica, an open-source digital preservation system compliant with the OAIS model (ISO 14721:2012), in close collaboration with ENAC-IT4R. The system enables automated ingest, format validation, normalization, and metadata generation. The resulting Archival Information Packages (AIPs) ensure the integrity and readability of preserved content, while Dissemination Information Packages (DIPs) and descriptive metadata are made publicly accessible via Morphé, the Acm’s archival portal based on AtoM (Access to Memory). The project focuses on a representative selection of digital archives: over 300,000 files totalling approximately 1 TB, chosen for their research value, technical feasibility and compliance with Swiss legal constraints on personal data and copyright. When files cannot be published for legal reasons, their metadata and structured descriptions remain accessible and reusable, aligning with Open Science and ORD principles. Beyond preservation, CA–O–RD produces high-quality datasets in the form of descriptive metadata and inventories structured according to international archival standards. These outputs support interdisciplinary reuse, particularly in architecture, civil engineering, urban studies and digital humanities. By embedding archival infrastructures within the ecosystem of research data management, the project contributes a scalable and transferable model for FAIR digital heritage. This project was supported by the Open Research Data Program of the ETH Board.