The rehabilitation of historic buildings-case study Al-Thakana Al-Hamidieh in Syria

摘要

There are many historic buildings that belong to different eras in Syria. Some of them dated back to thousands years ago. These buildings are different from each other, in the architecture, structure and building materials in accordance with the historical era they were built in. So, making a decision about treatment and/or rehabilitation, we should deal with each case separately. It is nearly impossible to make a general rehabilitation rule for all styles of historic buildings. This paper shows some case studies of historic buildings in Syria, the geotechnical and structural problems which cause some architectural flaws and it also goes further in a specific building in Damascus called Al-Thakana Al-Hamidieh or as it was known before Al-Keshleh, which means an accommodation for soldiers in Turkish language. This building was built in 1897. Its foundations and structural elements were made by big rocks which have been brought to the location from Damascus Citadel. The time gaps left an influence on the structure and architectural situation of the building. This building also suffered from a huge fire in 2004 which required rehabilitation. This paper points that supporting of foundations should not affect the style of this part of building, even though it is underground structure; and figures out the possibility of soil improvement by using the same materials which was used in the era of construction.