Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs 39. (1986)

Archive Buildings and the Conservation of Archival Material. An Expert Meeting, held in Vienna, Austria October 30 - November 1, 1985 - CARASSI, Marco – MASSABO-RICCI, Isabella: Italian Experiences in the Adaptation of Ancient Buildings

Italian Experiences

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reach 2000 kg/m2 on the highest floor, 2500 kg/m2 on the ground floor and 1000 kg/m2 in the basement, instead of the original 500, 350 and 500. Expansion of the 18th century palace proved to be possible only by creating beside it an underground store connected through the ancient basement.

Adaptation to security regulations:

Ancient and recent laws (R. D. 7/11/1942 n. 1564, D. M. 29/7/1965 n. 1973, L. 10/12/1984 n. 818) severely enforced by the fire brigade Command make it compulsory:

a) to divide up vast internal spaces into smaller ones,

b) to create escape routes with two new staircases (see illustration n. 2),

c) to set up a smoke-detection system and an extinction plant based on a series of water hoses all around the building and along the escape ways (the security staircases). The problem of extinction in the stack-rooms has not yet been solved. On the one hand the dimensions of rooms (metres 28 x 11 x 12,5) makes the use of halon unadvisable, on the other hand the danger of using water is well known. The sprinkler’s option is now considered;

d) to replace the very damaged wooden roof, which had lost its original characteristics, with a concrete reinforced one. A different solution has been adopted in the 18th century Royal Archives palace where the original roof structure was restored, treated with antiparasitic products, supplied with fireproof plates to assure an air-tight compartment in the loft, and protected with halon 1301 at 6% (see illustration n. 3). The ventilation of the loft is assured by air intakes which can be shut automatically by the fire- detection plant.

Temperature and humidity control:

First of all the underground rooms were renovated by means of raised, insulated floors and of closed external trenches all around the building (see illustrations nn. 1 and 2).

This allows the exploitation of vast spaces never used until now as archive repositories. The walls will help to remove residual humidity and so will contribute with the air-treatment plant to assure stable conditions (thermal inertia). An air-conditioning system has been rejected because of its excessive working costs, and eventually a simple thermoventilation was adopted for the winter while for the summer a cold ventilation will be coupled with dehumidifiers.

When restoration of both buildings is completed, with a 12 million dollars investment, 70 km of shelves will be available to store documents under the best conditions and to recover the 11 km of administrative files which are expected to be acquired by the State Archives of Turin in a short time.