District 3, Parcel 84 — Reconstruction Project

Condition Assessment

After the February 2023 earthquakes the building, which stood within the Antakya Urban Conservation Area, collapsed entirely, and its debris was sorted and removed from the site. The work therefore does not constitute a damage assessment in the conventional sense: it was conceived as a condition assessment focused on documenting the traces surviving at foundation level rather than any standing architectural elements. The spatial organisation, plan scheme and original architectural features of the building were reread and recorded by assessing together the foundation traces, the material remains identified in the debris field, oral history studies and written and visual archival documents. The aim was thus to document systematically the material and documentary traces of a cultural property that no longer exists.

BasisVenice Charter art. 16 · Law No. 2863 · Regional Conservation Board notification

Measured Survey — Excavation Survey

As the building had collapsed completely, an excavation survey was carried out instead of a measured survey. Rather than being cleared wholesale by machine, the debris was removed under control and in layers, with the discipline of an archaeological excavation; the architectural data revealed in each layer was measured and photographed before removal continued.

The foundation walls, wall bases, floor levels and traces of the courtyard’s stone paving that were uncovered have been measured and digitised. The sheets produced cover the cadastral situation, site plan, excavation plan and sections AA and BB. Traces of ashlar, rubble stone and timber tie-beams were listed separately in the material inventory, and original elements suitable for reuse were safely stacked on site.

Drawings from the excavation survey sheet that describe this stage

BasisVenice Charter art. 16 · Charter for the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage

Restitution

Restitution is the evidence-based reconstruction of the building’s original state before its collapse. On this parcel the concrete evidence comprises the 1929 French cadastral sheet, a measured survey of the building drawn in 1987, earlier restoration working drawings, the data obtained in the site excavation and the photographic archive.

Through an oral history study, the property’s most recent repairs, changes of use and alterations to the plan were documented from information given by former tenants and the owner. The building’s three main masses, which carry features of both the Ottoman period and the French Mandate, together with its arrangement around the courtyard and its floor organisation, were reread in the light of this data.

The plan drawings in which the restitution decisions are read

BasisVenice Charter art. 9–13 · Nara Document on Authenticity

Restoration Decisions

As the building was no longer standing, the conservation decisions turned towards defining the original qualities of the building to be rebuilt rather than intervening in existing fabric. Stone was specified for the main walls, the courtyard walls and the courtyard paving; timber for the upper-floor walls, the joinery, the bedding cupboards and other cupboards, the ceilings and the soffit lining.

Material and construction-system decisions

BasisVenice Charter art. 9–12 · Law No. 2863

Reconstruction

The reconstruction project defines the rebuilding of the original configuration established in the restitution, together with current building-safety requirements. As recorded in the drawing notes, the stone wall drawn at 25 cm in the earlier restoration file was widened to 40 cm following structural assessment, and the bağdadi lath-and-plaster walls were drawn at 16 cm on the basis of traditional Antakya details.

The stair dimensions were corrected by recalculating the building height and the riser height, which increased the number of steps. The external walls were brought into line with the building boundary, the stone walls on the upper floor were replaced with a bağdadi lath-and-plaster system, and all roofs were set with a 40 cm eaves projection and a 33 per cent pitch.

Elevations and sections from the reconstruction sheet

BasisVenice Charter art. 15 · Riga Charter · Regional Conservation Board approval

Construction and Supervision

The construction stage is the process of producing the exact counterpart of the approved project on site. Door, window and stair details were drawn at working scale, and the frame, sill and stone-wall junction details of the timber joinery were defined individually.

Traditional construction details at working scale

BasisVenice Charter art. 16 · Construction supervision and archiving

Hipped Roof Clad in Alaturka Tiles

Because Antakya has heavy rainfall, roofs are steep and pitched; all are hipped roofs clad in alaturka tiles. In this building the roof pitch is set at 33 per cent and the eaves projection at 40 cm. The eaves overhang the street, giving shade and protecting the walls from rain.

Arched and Flat-Lintel Doors

Two different architectural languages can be read between the two rooms north of the courtyard: the doors and windows of the western room are rectangular, while those of the northern room are segmentally arched. The element that links street and house is the double-leaf timber entrance door set within the thick courtyard wall.

Timber-Framed Windows

The windows are double-leaf timber units built with box-section profiles. Alongside straight-headed examples there are also openings spanned by a segmental arch. The stone sill and timber frame define the detail where the opening meets the stone wall.

The Courtyard’s External Stair

Access to the upper floor is by an external stair rising within the courtyard. There is a stair of 25 steps to the southeast of the courtyard and one of 15 steps to the northwest. The stair is not only a circulation element: the space beneath it becomes storage or a shaded area.

The Courtyard — Centre of the House

The L-shaped courtyard is entered through a double-leaf timber door on 1. Kilise Sokak. The ground floor rooms are set at the four corners of the courtyard, which works like a “sofa” hall linking every unit. Its walls are rubble stone and its floor is mosaic tile.

Mixed Construction System and Silhouette

The building carries features of both the Ottoman period and the French Mandate. Rubble-stone masonry walls 50–65 cm thick were used on the ground floor, and a bağdadi lath-and-plaster and timber-frame system above. The street elevation gains rhythm from the upper-floor windows and projecting eaves, taking its place in the silhouette.