The intervention on ‘Grand Betum’ and its phases

The fortified house of Servino, at the beginning of the recovery and restoration works, was in a state of complete abandonment and instability, with clear signs of severe structural deterioration. The roof had long since collapsed and, consequently, the wooden floors as well, also due to the probable demolition of the upper part of the masonry on the northern side of the building, which is believed to have been carried out to allow access to the top floor.

The opaque enclosing elements were largely heavily worn by time and weathering.
Despite these issues, many of the building’s typical architectural elements, such as the stones supporting the gutters and the portals made of monolithic stone blocks, were and still are clearly distinguishable.

The project for the recovery, restoration, and conservation of the fortified house “Grand Betum”—carefully followed step by step also with the support of the Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape—was carried out in two distinct phases: the first consisting of consolidation and restoration, and the second in its functional re-adaptation through the conversion of the building into a museum of itself and of the widespread micro-fortification system in the Orco and Soana valleys.

The first phase initially involved the construction of new floors, placed at the same level as the previous ones, with the exception of the top floor. This operation also made it possible to consolidate the perimeter walls. The decision not to reconstruct the top floor was driven by the desire to make all levels accessible, as its height was too low to allow normal use by visitors.

The collapsed portion of the masonry was rebuilt and intentionally set back both internally and externally, using the undercutting technique to highlight the different construction period compared to the existing part. Subsequently, the roof was constructed with a larch wood structure and a stone slab covering (“lose”) laid in a “handkerchief” pattern, as was customary in ancient times.

The stone staircase connecting the entrance to the ground floor is the original one and has been restored. The one between the first and second floors, on the other hand, was newly built in metal, since, lacking a reference to the original one, it was intended to create a non-interpretative and as “light” as possible element.
Finally, all the opaque closing elements were redesigned using larch wood, as they are presumed to have originally been.

The second phase of the intervention, dedicated to its re-functionalization, involved the installation of lighting systems, the arrangement on the ground floor of the exhibition of artifacts found on site, and the installation on all floors of a descriptive and illustrative route through explanatory panels guiding visitors to discover the “Grand Betum” and the other fortified houses in the area.
The extreme delicacy of the intervention was handled with great care by the operators on site, and it can be considered fully successful.

Arch. Davide Querio
Designer of the recovery and restoration project