RERE Group collects and processes cookies to ensure the operation of the website.
More information about cookies.

Choose which cookies you accept:
Customize cookies I consent to all cookies

News

RERE Grupa organises the second expert discussion event – this time on the topic “Recovery of historical buildings”

On Monday, 27 November, JSC RERE Grupa organised a seminar on the recovery of historical buildings after the damage caused by moisture at the conference hall of the Latvian National Museum of Art. The seminar was led by the expert of restoration works Roberts Vecums-Veco. The fact that the subject of this seminar is topical was proved by the large number of visitors – in total 140 participants.

“Last year, at Straupe Horse Mail, we started a cycle of expert discussions on an innovative approach to the preservation of cultural heritage. Our idea is to share our experience, technologies and innovations, promote professional discussions and listen to proposals and constructive criticism to make a modern and sustainable approach to the restoration of historical buildings a daily practice also in our country.
Various buildings suffer from moisture – both solid masonry buildings and historical wooden structures. Therefore, it is a real pleasure that this seminar, where professionals of various areas share their experience on the recovery of historical buildings, has gathered such a large number of visitors,” stated Guntis Āboltiņš–Āboliņš, the Chairman of the Board of JSC RERE Grupa, at the event opening.

His experience in the renovation of massive masonry buildings was shared by Pēteris Blūms, architect and expert of the State Inspectorate for Heritage Protection. He spoke about the completed works at Daugavpils Fortress, including in renovation of the Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre. Visitors of the seminar also had an opportunity to find out about the completed works in the renovation of Ventspils Castle and Berķene Manor, including about the specific solutions used for the prevention of moisture problems. Pēteris Blūms expressed an interesting opinion about the necessity to change the attitude of officials and customers towards the planning of the terms and costs of the renovation processes of historical buildings, respecting the complexity and durability of planned works. Marina Mihailova, architect of LLC “Arhitektoniskās izpētes grupa”, acquainted the visitors with the motives and problems of the development of the “wall recovery concept” of Preiļi Palace, which have delayed starting and the implementation of the necessary works within this project. Whereas Ronalds Lūsis, the manager of Riga Dome reconstruction project, shared his experience in relation to the preservation of wooden structures of the church roof and tower, mentioning as a positive experience the restoration works of Riga Dome middle nave in the period from 2011 to 2013, organised and managed by the specialists of our company.

The special guest of the seminar was Ingo Thumler – the Head of the company “Otto Richter Feuchteklinik” and member of BuFAS e.V. (“German Federal Association of Prevention of Moisture-Caused Damage and Recovery of Old Buildings”). Already for 27 years the company specialises in carrying out the drying and recovery works of buildings in Germany and it has participated in the implementation of bio-recovery and structure drying works of the castle-front complex of Riga Castle. Ingo Thumler told the seminar participants about the principles of the organisation and financing of these specific works in Germany as well as acquainted everyone with the extensive and different technologies for the drying of buildings used in Germany. I. Thumler particularly emphasised the harmful impact of moisture on human health, indicating that, nowadays, increasingly more attention is paid to solving the moisture problems of residential buildings. He revealed that the prevention of moisture is an especially topical issue when planning the implementation of insulation programmes for buildings, including apartment houses. “By performing the insulation of buildings unskilfully and failing to ensure the required “breathing” of walls and ventilation of premises, in the long-term perspective we can cause much larger problems, which will also reflect on human health. And it is unlikely to compensate for the achieved savings of energy sources.

The experience of the complex bio-recovery and drying of structures of Riga Castle was shared by Roberts Vecums-Veco, expert of restoration works of RERE Grupa, Eduards Krilovs, manager of restoration projects and specialist of wooden structures as well as Vladislavs Tjurins, building recovery specialist. While speaking about the works completed in 2014, Roberts Vecums-Veco particularly emphasised the comment by the biochemist Renāte Daukste in the conclusion after the completion of works in the castle:
“The overall qualitative and quantitative content of the pollution of objects has reduced after disinfection - it has dropped to a level which does not cause the biodegradation of materials and is not harmful for human health, which means that the aforementioned method of disinfection has been effective.”

We are grateful to Beata Johansone, the Head of LLC “DAW Baltica”, for interpreting the seminar from German and to the Latvian National Museum of Art for transforming the walls of the conference hall for the comfort of the many participants.
One year ago, we had a discussion on the topic “Constructive solutions for making and restoring historical windows”. The topic of this year as “Recovery of historical buildings”, whereas next year we plan to organise a seminar on the 3D scanning of historical objects, which may become a significant component in the process of the restoration of cultural historical monuments.