The New Church of San Leopoldo Mandic Built with Modern Construction Systems
Among the projects that have seen the use of the MTR® System in recent years, we tell you about the construction of the new church of San Leopoldo Mandic in Massafra, in a rapidly expanding urban area.
The new place of worship, approximately 1,200 sq m in size, includes the weekday chapel where the tabernacle is located, the chapel of Reconciliation and the sacristy that connects the modern construction with the existing parish structure.
“The objective difficulties in creating a large liturgical hall, and therefore, perfectly realising what the architects had designed, pushed the choice towards a system that would be monolithic yet at the same time proportionate to the liturgical forms at play. I learned about Metal.Ri through discussions with other colleagues who had tackled and studied alternative solutions to traditional reinforced concrete frames for buildings with large spans and structural elegance thanks to the MTR® System”
The MTR® System has proven to be a valid alternative to traditional construction systems, to address the project’s main structural requirement, namely to cover large spans and create a single space eliminating the presence of internal supports (as can be seen from the first architectural renderings).
The roof called for the placement of MTR® A lattice beams of considerable length, reaching nearly 22 metres. With the MTR® A solution, fully self-supporting with the function of reinforcement and formwork in a single element, the main beam carries secondary MTR® A beams: a first beam 21.5 metres long and 2 metres high supporting three beams 20 metres long and 1.5 metres high each.
In this way it was possible to create a grid of beams capable of supporting the roof slab of the central nave without the need for additional columns, despite the large space, eliminating any type of vertical constraint.
The economic and structural advantages were immediately evident throughout the progress of work on site. The installation of the MTR® beams was completed in just 3 days: very tight timescales considering the structural complexity of the construction, allowing the entire structure to be completed in one year. The ease of installation of the MTR® beams has indeed led to speed of execution and consequently lower construction costs.
The project was designed by architect Giuseppe Danza, engineer Giovanni Leuzzi and Giuseppe Mappa, alongside the MTR® designer, eng. Gianluca Sciancalepore for structural calculations. The construction company is Magazzile Rocco Antonio S.r.l.
All key players in the supply chain who considered the MTR® System an efficient and safe solution.
“The advantage of using the MTR® System is twofold. Both at the structural level and at the organisational and site management level, as well as the speed of installation and construction of structures in general.
I consider myself satisfied with the technical support received from the Metal.Ri designers and I am using the same system for new ongoing projects.” “
