| The Old City of Akko (Acre) |
| Shukry House |
| An engineering survey for the purpose of renovating, enlarging and designing the building |
| Orderer | Mr. Uri Nachmias (“Uri Buri”) |
| Duration | July-August 2005 |
| Address | Block: 12, Lot: 45 |
| Implemented by: |
Eng. Yardena Etgar
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Shukry House, also referred to as the “Palace” (Building 45, Block 12), is located in the northwestern part of Old Akko. It was constructed in several phases beginning in the middle of the 19th century CE atop the remains of a Crusader building.
The ground floor of the building is characterized by a system of groined arches, each spanning a uniform distance. The building’s walls are made of two wide rows of stone (c. 1 m thick). A factory operated on this floor where both soap and oil were manufactured, as evidenced by the installations located there. The two upper floors are characterized by a central hall plan. The walls are built one stone wide and the ceilings are made of decorated wood.
As part of the tourism development plan for Old Akko, converting the second story of Shukry House into a small hotel was proposed. In response to a request by the entrepreneur we conducted a survey in order to examine the engineering state of the building’s second floor. Whilst doing so we evaluated the possibility of enlarging the second story toward the north, on the roof of the first floor. Engineering solutions were proposed for renovating and stabilization and a cost assessment for remodeling the building was prepared.
Prior to this work, two previous surveys and documentations were conducted on building by Y and S. Kalimenko in 1995 and Y. Alef and L. Sochnov in 1996, on behalf of the Antiquities Authority.
Identifying the Problems in the Building
The ground floor was not examined at length within the framework of this survey because the problems there were already identified in 1996. The survey pointed out significant engineering problems relating to the building’s overall stability; the problems were not taken care of and that floor remained neglected and without maintenance.
Most of the problems on the first story are located in the southern part of the building. These include cracked walls, moisture in the walls, disintegration of the raw materials in the wooden ceiling, and pieces of board and the fill above them that are falling. A number of problems were also discerned on the second floor: cracks in the walls; weathered and fractured stones; the upper molding in the ceiling and the decorated panels have disintegrated (there is no significant danger of them collapsing); and the floors have settled.
Identifying the Causes of the Problems:
The weathering of the original building materials is caused as a result of the environmental conditions, especially because of the high level of humidity and salinity. The neglect and lack of maintenance have also accelerated the weathering.
The Ground Floor. The factors causing the problems are detailed in the 1996 survey.
On the first floor the cracks are a result of an excess load caused by the building additions on the second floor; the use of modern building materials, e.g. cement; rusted steel elements that have swollen; moisture in the walls due to a lack of waterproofing and cracks in the structure through which the water percolates into the walls.
On the second floor the use of cement-based materials has damaged the surface of the stone and caused weathering by altering the moisture regime and the absorption of salt in the stone; steel elements that have rusted have swollen and caused the stone to crack; the disintegration of the upper wood panels as a result of natural weathering – humidity and moisture – as well as the pigeons nesting in the inside of the building and the roof; the settling of floors – in order to identify the causes of the problem we dismantled the pavement and removed the fill material used as a bedding. This allowed us to evaluate the condition of the wood ceiling on which the pavement is founded. We discovered that the wooden panels are rotten and the fill material that serves as a bedding has settled, disintegrated and is falling onto the first floor.
In order to inspect the roof we climbed up and went into the wooden eves that delineate the roof. We examined the trusses and found that the roof of the building is in a reasonable state.
The Treatment Required:
The plaster on the walls and bonding material in all of the joints throughout the entire building need to be repaired or replaced.
Ground Floor. The treatment to the ground floor is essential in order to stabilize the building and it is an integral part of the measures required to renovate the second story. The treatment that is required was published in the list of recommendations in the survey from 1996.
First Floor. Removal of the anchors and steel elements and replacing them with stainless steel anchors. The treatment to the walls will include filling the cracks, filling the joints with bonding material where necessary and applying plaster with a lime based bonding material. The cracks should be filled according to their size: thin cracks should be filled by injecting a lime-based bonding material, wide cracks by means of small stones – up to 7 cm in size, and lime-based bonding material or by dismantling a section of the wall in the vicinity of the crack and rebuilding it using traditional technology.
Second Floor. Removal of all the anchors and the steel elements and replacing them with stainless steel elements; removal of the cement-based bonding materials; dismantling the floors, installation of a new stainless steel support structure for the floor, replace the fill in the pavement bedding with light material (e.g. tuff) and reinstall the flagstones. The cracks in the walls should be treated as specified above for the first floor. Dismantling and rebuilding of two unstable walls in Room No. 3.
In the northern part of the story that is meant to be enlarged, it is necessary to peel off the waterproofing layer on the first floor roof, open up the roof construction and build a new system of stainless steel girders. The addition will be built on top of the existing walls.
Roof. It needs to be cleaned and we recommend applying a layer of thermal insulation to it.
Conclusion:
The stabilization of the second floor, its renovation and conversion to a hotel requires intervention on the ground floor in order to stabilize the entire structure. The second floor can be enlarged by the creation of another construction system.
The final report was submitted to the entrepreneur in November 2005. A copy of it is on file in the IAA archives.
Sources
Alef Y. and Sochnov L (1996). Shukry House and the Soap Factory. Jerusalem: The Israel
Antiquities Authority. (Hebrew).
Kalimenko Y and Kalimenko S (1995). Shukry House, the 19th Century, A Study and Reconstruction Proposal. Jerusalem: The Israel Antiquities Authority. (Hebrew).
Pashkova A (1995). Shukry House, The 19th Century, The Roof and Ceiling Construction. Jerusalem: The Israel Antiquities Authority. (Hebrew).
To view the figures, click on the figure caption
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