The centennial Irene Rolo Building is distributed across three levels, consisting mainly of small units, predominantly facing Avenida da República in Tavira. The building’s vertical structure comprises load-bearing stone masonry walls mortared with lime.

Intervention goal

The building showed advanced structural pathologies, with a significant loss of load-bearing capacity.

Applied Technique

The rehabilitation, reinforcement, conservation, and restoration works of the Irene Rolo Building essentially included the following activities:

• Consolidation of structural masonry.
• Construction of floors and roof.
• Installation of service networks and finishes.

The consolidation of structural masonry was achieved through the following procedures: removal of loose or poorly bonded surface material, injections of consolidating agents, confinement reinforcement by spraying mortar over fiberglass mesh, and through-wall micro-anchoring (seismic retrofit), along with anchoring reinforcement of the corners.

The reconstruction of floors and the roof involved the installation of a metal framework for seismic structural reinforcement and floor support, including the application of connectors to improve wall-to-floor connection.

Results

The complete rehabilitation of the building, respecting the principles of phylogenetic rehabilitation, allowed for the transformation of an abandoned structure into a space for public use and service.

The recovery of the Irene Rolo Building, a comprehensive intervention, employed a wide range of rehabilitation technologies that led to the full conversion of a structure previously in total ruin. It is now fully functional as a public service building.

Additional information

It is worth noting that most of the techniques used in this intervention are reversible and/or minimally intrusive, such as the timber structures supported by metal frameworks anchored to the existing masonry, allowing the entire reinforcement system to be dismantled in the future, should new technologies become available.