Fire engineering endeavours to mitigate injury or the loss of life in the event of a fire. This is achieved primarily through fire prevention, containment, and extinguishment measures. Should prevention fail, the structural integrity of buildings, coupled with effective evacuation strategies, becomes paramount. While glass fibre-reinforced polymer (GFRP) materials have demonstrated efficacy in reinforcing concrete elements, their performance under fire conditions, notably in comparison to steel, necessitates a deeper understanding for structural applications. This study experimentally and numerically investigates the fire performance of GFRP-reinforced concrete (RC) columns subjected to only fire load without additional external loads. The research aims to ascertain the fire resistance based on the thickness of the concrete coating and the ultimate tensile strength of GFRP rebars after 90 min of fire exposure. Four GFRP-RC columns were subjected to a standardized fire curve on all sides in the experimental program. In the analytical program, a theoretical model was developed using the heat transfer module of the COMSOL software. The results of both analyses were very close, indicating the reliability of the procedure used. Based on the findings, recommendations regarding the fire resistance of GFRP-RC columns were formulated for structural applications. Results from this research provide the civil engineering community with data that will help them continue using FRP materials as internal reinforcement for concrete.

According to the EU's climate service, for the first time, global warming has exceeded 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, across an entire year. In the era in which climate change is a reality, the 3 R’s (Reduce, Recycle and Reuse) are more needed than ever. Steel, as a structural material has many advantages. Its strength, ductility and isotropy are well known, and the fact that can be continuously recycled without degradation or change its properties is really important, but above all, the possibility to be reused makes it more advantageous than other structural materials. In this paper, a steel structure built at the beginning of the 20th century is presented. The structure was dismantled around the 1970s and instead of being sold as steel scrap to be melted down again, it was reassembled in a new site for a new use. More than 120 years after it was first erected, the structure is still standing and in good use. Nowadays, thanks to the effort made towards the efficient use of energy in buildings during the use stage, the operational energy of buildings has been significantly reduced, however, it is still needed a huge effort to reduce the embodied energy or embodied carbon emissions for a resource-efficient construction. In this last point, reuse is of paramount importance as shown in this case of study, where the carbon footprint is obtained considering that the lifetime of the building has more than doubled the expected working life period.

This article presents the structural intervention carried out in a historic religious building following a change of use: the Carmelite Convent in Valencia (Spain). The study addresses the methodological process required to ensure structural safety when adapting heritage architecture to new functional demands while preserving its historical value. The research begins with a comprehensive data collection phase, focusing particularly on the characterization of the building’s structural elements and the geotechnical properties of the ground. This stage includes the identification of foundations, load-bearing walls, columns, beams, and floor systems through on-site inspections and targeted exploratory tests. In parallel, information regarding the subsoil conditions is obtained through a geotechnical study. The resulting data provide the basis for understanding the structural behavior of the existing building. Using the architectural and technical drawings prepared by the project’s technical team, a digital structural model is developed to simulate the building’s performance under the new load conditions associated with the proposed change of use. The computational structural analysis allows the evaluation of the current structural capacity and the identification of potential deficiencies or areas requiring intervention. Based on the results of the structural analysis, a series of reinforcement strategies are proposed to ensure compliance with structural safety requirements while maintaining the integrity of the historic structure. These interventions are designed to be as compatible and minimally invasive as possible with the existing construction. Finally, detailed graphical documentation of the structural intervention is produced as part of the overall project documentation. This material serves as the technical basis for the execution phase, during which the proposed structural reinforcements are implemented on site. The study demonstrates the importance of rigorous structural assessment and modeling in the adaptive reuse of heritage buildings.

El objetivo de la presente comunicación es mostrar la arquitectura de la Escuela Oficial de Idiomas de Gandía, Valencia. El edificio, respondiendo a los condicionantes específicos de una trama urbana que actúa de diafragma entre la ciudad compacta y la ciudad dispersa, resuelve un programa funcional concreto a partir de la combinatoria arquitectónica de tres elementos: planos de hormigón, volúmenes de clinker blanco y patios. El juego complementario de llenos y vacíos genera un espacio urbano a modo de ágora pública, un espacio tensionado entre planos horizontales de hormigón que conecta diferentes perspectivas a través de patios estratégicamente situados.***The purpose of the article to promote the architecture of the Official Language School of Gandía, Valenica. The building, answering to the specific conditions of an urban scene that acts as a partition between the compact city and the dispersed city, solving a specific functional program from 3 combined architectural elements; concrete planes, white clinker volumes and courtyards. The complimentary game of full and empty spaces generate an urban space through a public agora, a tensioned space between concrete horizontal planes that connect different perspectives through strategically placed courtyards.

The urgent need to improve the quality in the refurbishment of traditional buildings has led to the adoption of many innovative technologies. 3D laser scanning is a non-destructive technique used in the study of architectural heritage. It consists of producing millions of accurate 3D points with a very high point density in a short time. For this reason, it is a valuable alternative or complementary technique for classical topographical measurements based on total station or digital photogrammetry. To get the complete 3D model, multiple shots must be taken from different directions that provide data from all sides of the building. These scans are integrated into a common reference system so that through a process of aligning the information obtained in all the stations, a complete model is achieved in a single file. This model faithfully reproduces the current volume of the building, including its deformations and collapses, and provides very precise information from which to make its geometric survey. With the aim of making a graphic survey of the farmhouse located in the UPV campus, current headquarters of the CEDAT Foundation (Service for Attention to Students with Disabilities), a 3D laser scan was carried out in March 2019. This paper describes the methodology of laser scanning, the specific step during scanning and the possibility of create 2D documentation from 3D model point clouds.

Potential perspectives of 3D laser scanner for real-life domains