District 4, Parcel 104 — Reconstruction Project

Condition Assessment

After the earthquakes of 6 February 2023 the building, which stands within the Antakya Urban Conservation Area, was severely damaged: some of the masses around the courtyard collapsed while others remained standing, and the upper-floor timber gallery and roof covering partly caved in. The work therefore does not constitute a damage assessment in the conventional sense: it was conceived as a condition assessment focused on recording, in measured form, the surviving architectural elements, timber-beamed ceilings, cement-tile floors and wall niches before they too are lost. Which parts of the building had collapsed, which remained standing and where the rubble heaps lay were each marked separately on the drawings; the spatial organisation, plan scheme and original architectural features were recorded by assessing together photographs of the building, oral history studies and written and visual archival documents.

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

Measured Survey

The measured survey is the scaled documentation of the building’s condition after the earthquake. The surviving walls, courtyard paving, timber-beamed ceilings and roof covering were measured and digitised; the collapsed sections, rubble heaps and vegetation growth are shown separately on the drawings.

The sheets produced cover the cadastral situation, site plan, licensed survey boundary, ground floor plan, floor and ceiling plans, roof plan, six sections, and window, door, stair and cement-tile details.

Drawings from the measured survey sheet that describe this stage

BasisVenice Charter art. 16 · Law No. 2863

Restitution

Restitution is the evidence-based reconstruction of the building’s original state before the earthquake. On this parcel the work rests on the traces in the surviving parts, photographs of the building, cadastral documents and an oral history study.

The upper-floor configuration, which could not be documented in the measured survey, was reconstructed from the surviving gallery corbels, the floor heights read from the sections and a comparative study of similar buildings; the restitution sheet produced ground and first floor plans, floor and ceiling plans, a roof plan and seven sections.

Plan and section decisions from the restitution sheet

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

Restoration Decisions

The conservation decisions address both the preservation of the surviving original fabric and the redefinition of the lost parts in keeping with their original qualities. The courtyard was determined as ashlar paving, the ground floor rooms as 20×20 cement tiles with timber-beamed ceilings, and the upper floor as timber flooring beneath a timber roof.

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. The 88 m² stone courtyard and the five rooms, kitchen and service spaces arranged around it, together with the two halls, offices and wet spaces on the upper floor, have been rebuilt in keeping with the original plan scheme.

The arched timber doors, fanlights and the timber gallery resting on stone corbels on the courtyard elevation have been redefined using dimensions from the measured survey and the restitution; the roof has been built with its original pitch and eaves arrangement.

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, mahmel (niche), stair and cement-tile 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

Upper-Floor Gallery with Timber Balustrade

The upper floor opens onto a timber gallery running the length of the courtyard. Resting on stone corbels, the gallery floor is enclosed by turned timber handrails, with a small bay projecting into the courtyard at its centre. The gallery provides circulation and also shades the arched openings on the floor below.

Arched Timber Doors

The doors opening from the courtyard into the rooms are panelled timber units spanned by a semicircular arch. The arched fanlights above them bring light into the rooms while setting the rhythm of the courtyard elevation; some are filled with wrought iron.

Timber-Beamed Ceiling

All of the ground floor rooms are covered by timber-beamed ceilings. The beams and the boarding between them are left exposed and painted; in this building the plaster and paint layers show that the ceilings were finished in a strong, evocative green.

Wall Niche and Built-in Cupboard

Arched niches and built-in cupboards cut into the thick walls leave no need for separate furniture in the traditional Antakya building. The plastered interior of the niche and its timber shelves turn the thickness of the wall into an element for storage and display.

The Courtyard — Centre of the Building

The 88 m² ashlar-paved courtyard is the centre of the two-storey building. The rooms, kitchen and service spaces on the ground floor and the halls and offices above all open onto this void. The courtyard is the principal space, gathering both circulation and everyday use.

Cement-Tile Flooring

The ground floor rooms are paved with 20×20 cm cement tiles. Laid with a different border and central panel in every room, these floral and geometric tiles were documented in the measured survey by drawing each pattern individually.