Renovating an Old Building for Cultural Use: A Study in Unreinforced Masonry

This paper examines the issue of renovation of buildings in the urban fabric of older central cities. It does so with a the case study of one such building. The building under study is a church that was originally constructed in the early 1900's and was in use into the eighties. Since then, building has been abandoned and fallen into disrepair. The building was renovated for use as a cultural arts and performance center for small user groups. It was an unreinforced masonry building with many structural defects that had to be overcome before any use could be made of the structure. The foundations in the basement were badly deteriorating. It had high spaces with tall unreinforced masonry walls and a truss roof that was in distress.