Versatility of steel in correcting construction deficiencies and in seismic retrofitting of RC buildings

This paper presents the structural upgrade of a public school building, which did not guarantee safety against collapse under gravity loads and which had been designed ignoring seismic actions. The design of the upgrade took full advantage of the properties, capabilities and opportunities afforded by steel, which was used in a variety of forms and functions — namely, cold-formed members, thin-walled sections, welded elements, steel-concrete horizontal and vertical structures. The activity presented here did not use numerical calculation as a means of structural design. The multifarious roles that steel can play make steelwork particularly suited to conservation and upgrade of twentieth century architecture, especially seminal reinforced concrete buildings.