A place of worship, of course, but it is also a place for meeting, sharing and comparing notes; a magnetic centre of attraction; a small sprout of beauty, capable – this is the hope – of generating more and upgrading the entire surrounding area.
This is, in a few words, the basic idea behind the project for the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine (here are the technical details), for the parish of the same name in the Archdiocese of Sorrento – Castellammare di Stabia, located in the town of Santa Maria la Carità in the province of Naples. The construction site is still open, and at the end of 2015 we took care of the executive and structural design, through structural modelling (calculations) and BIM (Building Information Modelling), before starting work in August 2016.
FROM THE IMAGE OF THE EMBRACE TO THE STEEL STRUCTURE
The architectural project (winner of the public competition for ideas launched by the Diocese in 2013), by Emilio Vitale and Adriana Pidalà, is from 2014. And it develops on strong symbolic references, describing through the church building the embrace between the Mother and the Child. A simple but highly evocative image. Which in space presented all the difficulties of organic architecture due to complex geometric rules however.
Our task was to imagine a structural design that would follow the architectural forms, however complex they might be, in order to return the winning project to the community as it was intended.
For example, the single-bay body of the Aula liturgica (liturgical hall) had a double curvature for a good part of its perimeter – as well as for part of the roof. For these elements, it immediately became clear that the best structural choice was steel, in order to achieve millimetric precision and simultaneously optimise construction time and costs. The steel structure was then integrated into curved baffles with reinforced concrete. Lattice girders were used to support the roof of the single bay and have become a feature of the project.
FOR AN IMPOSING STRUCTURE, SMALL BIM SOLUTIONS
The project – complex and extensive – was tackled with scientific dedication and in-depth knowledge. The general approach was to break down and tackle the structural design in stages, while maintaining a unitary and overall vision. The sinuous forms of the building were traced back to geometric constructions that could be traced on site, but with the help of professional figures such as the site surveyor.
In this continuous mix of professional experience and digital calculation, the use of BIM modelling allowed us to simulate the construction of the building and understand what difficulties we would encounter on site. The project idea, which had been tackled with pure modelling software, was transferred to BIM and then enriched with an informative as well as a geometric apparatus, to become a structure. The structural model, which was then delivered to the suppliers, the metalwork workshops and the workers, enabled us to simplify and standardise the work of the designers as much as possible and its often curved development.
Such a complex structural calculation – which required the presence of several structural engineers within the group – without the support of a three-dimensional and integrated restitution, could not have been possible without high margins of error.
In addition, the integrated design provided all the detailed information to the fabrication shop for the steel members, which weigh approximately 80 tonnes.
ONE STEP AWAY FROM DELIVERY
Currently, workers on site are completing the perimeter closures (walls between structures and screeds). The next step is the completion of the finishing touches (which involves laying the flooring, the interior panelling, the paintwork) as well as the fitting of the fixtures (doors, windows, glazing).
In essence, our intervention – thanks to the work of Arch. Alessia Lo Blanco, Eng. Giuseppe Malatino and Eng. Luciana Ricca – to support the construction management is complete.
And soon the embrace symbolised by the parish church of Santa Maria del Carmine will be able to open up to the entire Neapolitan community.
