Refurbishment of Industrial Buildings in early Reinforced Concrete

The presence of François Hennebique in Belgium until 1896 certainly urged the use and spread of reinforced concrete as a building system in Belgium. Although numerous buildings were erected, not much of them have survived the 21st century. The early witnesses are now protected as historical monument. However, their refurbishment is a long and difficult process. The paper explores in depth the architectural and technical design process of two renovated industrial buildings in Belgium: the Vuurmolen (1902) in Overijse constructed according to the M. Dumas patent, and the Royal Entrepot (1903-6) in Brussels, constructed according to the Hennebique patent. By going into the construction history, re-use, assessment, strengthening and thermal upgrading, it becomes clear that there are no standard procedures for the rehabilitation of these multiform early industrial concrete buildings.