diff --git a/src/app/core/shared/browse-definition.ts b/src/app/core/shared/browse-definition.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..788ef65739
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/app/core/shared/browse-definition.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+/**
+ * Base class for BrowseDefinition models
+ */
+export abstract class BrowseDefinition {
+
+  /**
+   * Get the render type of the BrowseDefinition model
+   */
+  abstract getRenderType(): string;
+}
diff --git a/src/app/core/shared/flat-browse-definition.model.ts b/src/app/core/shared/flat-browse-definition.model.ts
index 38df4a562d..2002d6bbab 100644
--- a/src/app/core/shared/flat-browse-definition.model.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/shared/flat-browse-definition.model.ts
@@ -7,9 +7,10 @@ import { ResourceType } from './resource-type';
 import { SortOption } from './sort-option.model';
 import { CacheableObject } from '../cache/cacheable-object.model';
 import { BrowseByDataType } from '../../browse-by/browse-by-switcher/browse-by-decorator';
+import { BrowseDefinition } from './browse-definition';
 
 @typedObject
-export class FlatBrowseDefinition extends CacheableObject {
+export class FlatBrowseDefinition extends CacheableObject implements BrowseDefinition {
   static type = FLAT_BROWSE_DEFINITION;
 
   /**
@@ -46,4 +47,8 @@ export class FlatBrowseDefinition extends CacheableObject {
     entries: HALLink;
     items: HALLink;
   };
+
+  getRenderType(): string {
+    return this.dataType;
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/app/core/shared/hierarchical-browse-definition.model.ts b/src/app/core/shared/hierarchical-browse-definition.model.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a57550e1b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/app/core/shared/hierarchical-browse-definition.model.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+import { autoserialize, autoserializeAs, deserialize } from 'cerialize';
+import { typedObject } from '../cache/builders/build-decorators';
+import { excludeFromEquals } from '../utilities/equals.decorators';
+import { HIERARCHICAL_BROWSE_DEFINITION } from './hierarchical-browse-definition.resource-type';
+import { HALLink } from './hal-link.model';
+import { ResourceType } from './resource-type';
+import { CacheableObject } from '../cache/cacheable-object.model';
+import { BrowseDefinition } from './browse-definition';
+
+@typedObject
+export class HierarchicalBrowseDefinition extends CacheableObject implements BrowseDefinition {
+  static type = HIERARCHICAL_BROWSE_DEFINITION;
+
+  /**
+   * The object type
+   */
+  @excludeFromEquals
+  type: ResourceType = HIERARCHICAL_BROWSE_DEFINITION;
+
+  @autoserialize
+  id: string;
+
+  @autoserialize
+  facetType: string;
+
+  @autoserialize
+  vocabulary: string;
+
+  @autoserializeAs('metadata')
+  metadataKeys: string[];
+
+  get self(): string {
+    return this._links.self.href;
+  }
+
+  @deserialize
+  _links: {
+    self: HALLink;
+    entries: HALLink;
+    items: HALLink;
+    vocabulary: HALLink;
+  };
+
+  getRenderType(): string {
+    return 'hierarchy';
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/app/core/shared/hierarchical-browse-definition.resource-type.ts b/src/app/core/shared/hierarchical-browse-definition.resource-type.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..df06d67c7a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/app/core/shared/hierarchical-browse-definition.resource-type.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+import { ResourceType } from './resource-type';
+
+/**
+ * The resource type for HierarchicalBrowseDefinition
+ *
+ * Needs to be in a separate file to prevent circular
+ * dependencies in webpack.
+ */
+export const HIERARCHICAL_BROWSE_DEFINITION = new ResourceType('hierarchicalBrowse');