Experimental consolidation works in rammed earth walls: The case of the BaÑuelo in Granada (Spain)

Abstract

Between 2015 and 2018, different restoration works were carried out on the dividing walls of the Bañuelo in Granada. They affected rammed earth, masonry and brick fabrics of different chronological periods, corresponding to medieval structures (12th-15th centuries), Modern Age repairs (16th-18th centuries) and contemporary restoration works conducted by F. Prieto-Moreno and L. Torres Balbás (20th century). In this article are presented the works carried out on the west dividing wall, which separate the Arab bath from the garden of the adjoining house. This fabric corresponds to a recent chronology and is not related to the founding fabrics of the Andalusian building; this fact has allowed the development of experimental methodologies avoiding any alteration on structures of a high historical value. Nevertheless, this wall preserves a layered structure of repairs or restorations of Modern and Contemporary Age, which has been factored in the consolidation works. Accordingly, the intervention has not been limited to a strict preservation or a volumetric reintegration of the rammed earth fabric, but aims to offer a range of solutions according to the state of conservation of the structures and the erosion level of the surfaces, on the basis of a previous laboratory tests. Consequently, the conservation works present different intervention techniques and surface coating treatments, which facilitate the execution and contribute to the legibility and the integration of the intervention in the general context of the building.