Restoration and conservation of listed buildings: The case of the Sauli-Saffi pavilions in Forlì

The paper illustrates the restoration and conservation project for the Sauli and Saffi pavilions in the building complex of the old hospital of Forlì, which currently hosts the Forlì Campus as a ramification of the University of Bologna. The implementation of a Detailed Plan since February 2003 has affected the complex, which consists of ten buildings, and it is going to be concluded with the interventions on these two pavilions. The main aim of the overall project is the recovery of the existing pavilions and their conversion to managerial functions, to departmental research and to high training equipment departments. The hospital complex was built around the 1907 and it started its function in 1915; at that time, the settlement was at the forefront, thanks to the separation of the various hospital functions in seven separate pavilions, surrounded by a large park. The number of buildings then increased during the twentieth century. The Sauli and Saffi Pavilions were identical and mirror-like; they were placed in a barycentric position within the whole settlement and they had a complex and articulated shape. Regarding their structure, surveys and inspections on site have allowed to recognize a load-bearing masonry structure, with brick vaults set on masonry walls and pillars in the basement. Above, between the ground floor and the first floor, timber beams were used, except for some portions where iron beams can be found. In the areas of the old dormitories, the floor is made by a double frame of iron beams and brick vaults and a lime plaster ceiling. Hence, the material choices are the typical ones of the coeval buildings of the Region: masonry brick walls with a plastered basement, timber floors and roofs with marseilles tiles. These choices refer to the typical needs of a hospital building: simplicity, solidity, strength, durability. Nowadays, the whole complex belongs to the heritage lists by the local Superintendence for Architectural Heritage, so the intervention must follow stringent conservation criteria, both from an architectural and structural point of view. In particular, in a first phase, the paper illustrates the path of acquiring the knowledge regarding the building, from the historical and critical analysis to the geometric and constructive survey, which were supported by photomodelling activities. The architectural project will then be illustrated, showing the distributive rationalization of the interior spaces for the creation of classrooms and departmental offices for the needs of the University. In conclusion, the methodology adopted for the seismic vulnerability assessment of the structures will be shown with its results and the seismic improvement project will be illustrated. In this context, the structural choices were oriented to appropriate interventions to reach a higher safety level regarding to seismic actions without substantially modifying the global behaviour of the building.