Multipurpose Retrofitting of a Tower Building in Brescia

The paper aims to report a proper low-impact integrated study approach for the energy and seismic retrofitting of a tower building located in the city centre of Brescia (Italy). The building consists of a group of aggregate buildings built in the 1950s, from which emerged an 11-storey tower. It was built with the technology of the time by means of a perimeter and spine framed structure in reinforced concrete, double perimeter infill with a hollow brick air chamber, external cladding on the main fronts with small Botticino marble tiles. The building is registered by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage for its facade and is located in a seismic zone of category two. When work began, the construction was in a class three; thus, the whole project was updated to obtain the new seismic authorisation. The coating showed progressive decay, with dangerous structural instability of the heavy coating. The design team decided to adopt wider corrective action compared to the observed phenomenon, integrating it with a local seismic and global energy improvement through the insertion of a ventilated wall in the building and the realisation of accurate thermal and energy insulation systems. At the end of the intervention, this building became the first condominium in Italy in 2018, certified in class A and upgraded with sustainability criteria in which the application of the GBC Italy (Green Building Council) Condominiums protocol, currently in its final publication phase for the energy–environmental sustainability of condominiums, has been tested.