Cardellicchio, L (2021) Building defects in new iconic structures: The technical challenge and the economic impact of restoring the Jubilee Church in Rome. Architectural Engineering and Design Management, 17(1-2), pp. 146-166. ISSN 1745-2007
Abstract
The Jubilee Church is a contemporary building located on the eastern outskirts of Rome, Italy. Featuring components with non-standard geometries and innovative technical solutions, the church is now suffering from extensive and premature decay, despite having opened only 16 years ago. This research project aims to use data on premature ageing patterns and the consequent refurbishment of the Jubilee Church to reimagine its failings as a valuable learning. Following the appraisal of the building process and detailed analysis of its failing components and materials, this study calculates the economic impact of the building’s premature decay. These data are interpreted to assess the economic feasibility of the ordinary maintenance of the building and the technical practicability of its restoration. This study demonstrates how the accelerated decay of such a contemporary building is due to several factors, including construction detailing that ignores characteristics of local weather, lack of ordinary maintenance due to excessive costs unaffordable for a small parish in the outskirts of Rome and untested materials not suitable for use in components with specific geometry. The paper aims to extend the value of this case study by highlighting some recommendations that can inform wider maintenance procedures for buildings with similar geometric and material characteristics.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | building defects; conservation; failures; maintenance; maintenance design |
| Index terms: | economic impact, Italy, restoration, appraisal, building process, conservation, weather, building defect, case study, geometry, Rome |
| Subjects: | building construction, financial analysis, renovation and retrofit, factor and component analysis, Geography, environmental policy, professional practice, data collection methods, mathematical modelling, air quality |
| Topics: | Site Management, Design Practice, Sustainability, Research Practice, Geographical Context, Engineering Principles, Cost Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here