“Reinforced Concrete Condition Assessment in Architectural Heritage. The

Lion Chambers (Glasgow, UK) and the Theatre E. Duni (Matera, Italy)”

Antonella GuidaUniversity of Basilicata, Italy

Branka DimitrijevicGlasgow Caledonian University, UK

Antonello PagliucaUniversity of Basilicata, Italy

Contents• Chapter I – The “Modern Architecture” in the North of

Europe• Chapter II – The architecture in the early 20th century

in Basilicata (Italy) between tradition and innovation

• Chapter III – The concrete: restoration approach and condition assessment

• Chapter IV – The Lion Chambers and the Teatro E. Duni

• Chapter V – The diagnostic investigation

• Conclusions

The Lion Chambers

The Lion Chambers is a unique building in many ways.

It is probably the only non-industrial building constructed before 1910 which did not deliberately disguise its reinforced concrete structure.

Category ‘A’ listed in 1966.

The Lion Chambers designers

Salmon, Son and Gillespie

James Salmon Jr (1873-1924)John Gaff Gillespie (1870-1926)

The Lion Chambers

– upper floors

The Lion Chambers design

The Lion Chambers design

The Lion Chambers structure Structural design by L. G. Mouchel, licensed by Francois Hennebique

Francois Hennebique

1842-1921 Hennebique’s reinforced concrete

patent, 1892

The Lion Chambers structure

Basement sections

The Lion Chambers structure

First floor –sections and plan of bay windows

The Lion Chambers structure

Roof sections

The Lion Chambers structure

Cupola

Former interior of the office in the south-west corner on the 4th floor

Current interior of the office in the south-west corner on the 4th floor

Current interior of the office in the north part of the building

Lack of thermal insulation

External walls Condensation effects

Roof

Condition assessments and preservation actions

1991 - A report on the condition and the application for a repairs grant

March 1995 - a notice asking the owners to reinstate the structural integrity of the building

April 1995 - a planning permission for demolition of the Lion Chambers refused; the upper floors of the building were evacuated and scaffolding to the west facade was erected.

1996 – Additional scaffolding was erected around the whole building and a protective mesh placed on the facades.

2001 - A feasibility study for the repair and conservation concluded that additional propping of the structure was required

Condition assessment: tests and knowledge on the assessed building

Although ultrasound tests, covermeters, drill holes and other testing methods assist in the assessment, the results may be puzzling. The starting point in appraisal is knowledge of what is likely to be found at different dates and different types of structure.

Knowledge on the Lion Chambers structural design•The published plans of the Lion Chambers structural system•Information on manual mixing method that required a wetter mixture of concrete •The known standard specification of reinforcement bars and concrete mix in Hennebique’s system

Causes of deterioration related to the structural design of the Lion Chambers

•The lack of thermal insulation of the building envelope causes condensation on internal surfaces

• The lack of waterproofing in the basement and on the inclined parts of roof surfaces allows penetration of water which damages concrete and reinforcement bars.

1991 report:• Water penetration from roof had affected the concrete structure and its reinforcement• Defects in external walls had been aggravated by condensation • Intermittent flooding of basement damaged the structure. • Carbonation of concrete led to severe corrosion of the reinforcements, requiring major structural repairs.

1998 and 2000 reports: Further deterioration of building structure

Investigations in 2011

Tests on the internal reinforced concrete columns were undertaken by using “SonReb”(SONic + REBound) method that enables assessing the concrete resistance by combining the speed of ultrasound waves and the index of surface bounce through a scleorometric test.

Dr Antonello Pagliuca, University of Basilicata, Italy

The Lion Chambers – results

The Lion Chambers – results

Investigations in 2011

The characteristic resistance values for concrete were obtained from a minimum of 14 MPa to a maximum of 22 MPa(concrete compressive strength requirements can vary from 17 MPa for residential use to 28 MPa and higher in commercial structures).

These give compression resistance values for concrete of between 140 kg/cm² and 220 kg/cm².

Sclerometer

Equipment for ultrasound tests

The DuniTheatre

Duni Theatre in Matera, designed by the Materanarchitect E. Stella and built between 1946 and 1949.

This was the first work built entirely in reinforced concrete in Matera

The project, ambitiously conceived as a cinema-theatre with adjoining hotel

The DuniTheatre

designers

Ettore Stella led to the first sensible transformations of the town, which contained a series of “fermenting”spaces that drove its slow and gradual evolution.

(1915-1951)

The Duni Theatre – plant

The Duni Theatre – section

The Duni Theatre – design

The Duni Theatre – design

The Duni Theatre – design

The Duni Theatre – structure

The DuniTheatre –

results

The DuniTheatre –

results

The DuniTheatre –

results

Investigations in 2011

The characteristic resistance values for concrete were obtained from a minimum of 18 MPa to a maximum of 21 MPa(concrete compressive strength requirements can vary from 17 MPa for residential use to 28 MPa and higher in commercial structures).

These give compression resistance values for concrete of between 180 kg/cm² and 210 kg/cm².

Sclerometer

Equipment for ultrasound tests

Repairing reinforced concrete

• No unambiguous guidelines available on how to approach the investigation or repair of damaged reinforced concrete buildings.

•Because any one of repair options might not be sufficient on its own, the most appropriate would probably be a combination of more than one.

•The repair options could be assessed by examining the anticipated maintenance-free service life, advantages and disadvantages of each option, and potential level of intervention.

ConclusionsThe tests carried out are the basis of a diagnostic project that is

possible to implement and monitor to guarantee a deeper knowledge, with the goal of attaining a level of thorough understanding aimed at the

“preservation and improvement” of “Modern Architecture” in Europe.

“The modern building must derive its own architectural significance exclusively from the power and coherence of its organic

proportions: it must possess its own declared truth, a logical transparency and be immune to lies and triviality”

(Walter Gropius, 1935)