RENOVATION OF THE TIMBER CHOIR LOFT OF THE “COLLETTO” SANCTUARY, PINEROLO, ITALY

The Sanctuary “Beata Vergine Maria del Monte Carmelo” in Colletto, Pinerolo, Italy, is an out- standing renaissance architectural complex located in high hills region nearby Turin, Italy. The church is well known both for its architectural relevance and for the artistic value of the paintings and statues. In addition, thanks to the optimal acoustic performance of the nave, the church hosted in recent times concerts and musical events that have been recorded and published. Recently, it became possible to equip the church with a newly restored pipe organ conceived by the famous organ designer Tamburini. The paper presents the design of the intervention necessary in order to place the organ on the seventeenth century wooden choir loft, that at the present time does not provide the necessary space and bearing capacity. First of all, a detailed terrestrial photogram- metry and laser scanner survey have been performed with the aim of optimizing the amount of the necessary translation of the wooden choir loft which is compatible with the organ geometry and minimize the interference with the adjacent chapels. Subsequently, non-destructive tests on the timber structure of the choir loft helped to design the appropriate bearing steel structure, also to provide the seismic resistance required by the nowadays national standards. Special care has been paid to the construction phases, since the choir loft needed to be translated during the drilling of micro-poles foundation and the bearing steel frame assembly. The bearing structure has been hid- den above the original timber structure and behind a new wooden entryway. The intervention com- prised not only the structural retrofitting of the choir loft but also the restoration of the valuable painting of the wooden choir loft parapet.