Rehabilitation,  structural  assessment  and  conversion  of  the “Mantzounio Building”

Rehabilitation,  structural  assessment  and  conversion  of  the “Mantzounio Building”, 2-Storey building of 1850, into a PUBLIC LIBRARY – Cultural Ministry Building in Tripoli, Prefecture of Arcadia, Greece. Restoration of the external form of the building. Restoration of all morphological elements including decoration. New interior layout without alteration of general architectural character. Modernization of the installation. Services Provided : Final Architectural and Structural Design

The “Mantzounio Building” is a traditional building, one of the most historic and oldest buildings in Tripoli City. At the same time it was a monument that marked the intellectual life of the city for a long time. It was built in the period 1854 – 1856.

The “Mantzounio Building” is a two-storey building of masonry with thickness from 64 to 80cm. Its shape is rectangular (dimensions 23,24×11,76m). It has tile roofs and many decorative elements on the internal and external shell.

In the ground floor of the existing building there is an entrance corridor (width 2.45m and surface 24,60m²) and two equally sized rooms (84.00m² each). On the first floor there are two rooms, one (48.82m²) is used as a library and the other one (175.33m²) as a lecture hall. The floors of the halls in the ground floor are covered with ceramic tile and on the 1st floor are wooden. The frames are wooden.

The rehabilitation design focuses on creating a modern functional library and simultaneously in preserving and such an important building, such as “Mantzounio Building”. The functional structure of the library consists the following areas:

1. 1. Administration
2. 2. Collection, processing, distribution of flyers and other material
3. 3. Adult and children reading areas
4. 4. Cultural events such as readings, literary competitions etc.
5. 5. Organization of University course

Ground Floor. On the ground floor (east part of the building) is formed a reading – information center. In the western part of the ground floor there are the bookshelves and librarians office and services. In this area there is a staff wc and a small kitchenette.

The entrance to the first floor is from the external existing staircase in the north side of the building, or by the new elevator in the outside, placed on the back yard. Internal communication of the building does not exist.

First Floor. There is the reception – information center. On this floor there is the children’s section of the library with multimedia and a central reading area. An office area for the library administration. Cultural event hall . Adult education center. Staff WC and kitchenette.

On the eastern side of the plot there has been proposed an additional building (height 2.60m, total area  99.20 m², in order to cover the operating services of the main building. This includes the necessary sanitary facilities and warehouses.