20.027

Saint Martin’s church Arlon

Belgium

Arlon

Context

The Saint-Martin Church, with its traditional oak timber frame dating back to 1914, holds a special place in the community’s heritage. Over the last few decades, the wooden structure of the spire, that reaches a height of 97 meters, has been damaged, and major displacements have taken place. This project aims to restore the church to its historical and architectural significance by restoring its iconic spire to its former glory. The spire was completely dismantled and replaced by a new oak structure.

Particularities

Our mission focuses on a comprehensive study of the spire’s support and integration into the existing timber structure. Meticulous attention was being paid to the intricate connections between the spire and the longitudinal beams of the roof to enhance lateral bracing. As the church frame was not sufficiently rigid to stabilize the spire horizontally, a set of tie rods was added in a second stage to transfer the forces directly to the masonry.