Z E M C H 2 0 1 2 I n t e r n a t i o n a l C o n f e r e n c e
436
Technological sustainability
:
- the recovery and reuse of existing structures using new technologies such a carbon
fibres or other technologies permitting the reinforcing of the building instead of demolition.
As hoped for in every recovery project in a historical context and respecting fully eco-
sustainable principles of recovery, it is necessary, before any other action, to proceed
with a very thorough historical analysis. For the recovery of the two courtyards, the
architectural designers (studio RWA Architetti - Rovereto, Milano) have completed the
historical analysis.
The analysis of the historical evolution is a fundamental requirement to allow for the
subsequent formulation of philologically appropriate recovery work.
The building was originally constructed in 1770 by an old noble family, and then it was
subjected to subsequent interventions which changed its typological and functional core.
The eighteenth-century layout provided common-use rooms such as kitchens, living
rooms, bedrooms, workrooms, all connected to each other. Considering this layout, two
fully opened courtyards worked first as a connection between collective and private
functions and then as the main source of non-direct illumination for interior rooms.
This idea, or to be precise, the recovery of this idea is the aim of the project.
The two courtyards were originally made up of stone brackets supporting paving stones
(Fig. 4 & 5).
Figure 4: Main cross section (1770)
Figure 5: Courtyard (Assonometrical view
(1770)
(RWA Architects)
(RWA Architects)
In 1880 the original layout of the building was substantially changed and it became the
seat of the Royal Elizabethan School. The new owners completely changed the intended
use of the galleries, which became new crossing places between the various
architectural features of the school.
Analysing the structural layout, even the old structural layout changed, because the
owners built new cast iron columns inside the courtyards, made to support a metal frame
with a new static scheme, which was no longer a joined shelf like the former one.
The rooms and spaces that were originally illuminated by solar light now became blind.
This was because the original galleries, due to new requirements, were closed and the
original role of illumination was delegated to simple windows with arc transom windows
(Figg. 6 &7).
