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Sustainable Retrofit Strategies for an Existing and Historically Significant Residential Complex


Sustainable Retrofit Strategies for an Existing and Historically Significant Residential Complex: Environmental Response and Facade Performance Analysis” presents preliminary research of a case study that focuses on sustainable retrofit strategies of an existing Brutalist style residential complex, “Djuro Djakovic” (more commonly referred to as “Ciglane”), located in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Once part of the former Yugoslavia, this case study is an example of a historically, culturally, and politically significant architectural style and movement of its time, unique to this part of the world. As is the case with many similar examples of Brutalist buildings, the existing state of this urban complex is in desperate need of renovation, yet careful restoration methods for such examples of buildings are often perceived as economically unattainable and as undesirable due to stigmatized social attitudes ascribed to their Brutalist formal style of architecture.

The primary objective of this paper was to evaluate the present state performance of several modules of a single building within this large-scale residential complex. The overarching objective of this research is to highlight the importance of such examples of buildings in hopes that quantitative data, which demonstrates ways through which such buildings can be sustained and restored for future generations, can help instigate their ultimate protection and preservation while improving building performance.

Research methods included analysis of archival data and empirical data, and computational software modeling and simulations. Using original construction drawings and current state photographs, a full 3D BIM model of two typical residential building modules was developed for analysis. Building’s formal and spatial qualities were analyzed and then, the building’s response to environmental conditions was evaluated using Revit and Insight 360 simulations. Next, the thermal and moisture resistance performance of a typical facade system was manually evaluated based on available construction drawings at this preliminary stage of ongoing research.

Results showed that the urban and architectural designs paid careful attention to social and environmental factors and that although the environmental response of the hillside residential buildings was missed, the implemented enclosure systems were highly advanced for this time.

Citation:

Milosevic, S., and Aksamija, A., (2022). “Sustainable Retrofit Strategies for an Existing and Historically Significant Residential Complex: Environmental Response and Facade Performance Analysis”, in Interdisciplinary Advances in Sustainable Development, Tijana Tufek-Memišević, Maja Arslanagić-Kalajdžić and Naida Ademović, eds., Springer, Switzerland, pp. 237-252.