Steel support for wooden roof trusses in restored monastery

After standing empty for forty years, the restored Predikherenklooster in Mechelen has been given a new lease of life as a city library. The monastery was built in the seventeenth century and is made up of four wings around a square courtyard. One of the biggest challenges during the restoration was the repair and reinforcement of the monumental wooden roof trusses and attic floor. The existing roof construction has a self-supporting and insulating skin on steel trusses, which are, in turn, attached to the horizontal rafters of the existing wooden roof trusses. As far as was possible, the steel trusses have been concealed to let the authentic library attic appear to its full advantage. All the other steel was also hidden from view, with the exception of the columns of the mezzanine floors. In total, the project used approximately 160 tonnes of S355 steel in the form of hot-rolled profiles.