Restoring the Colonia Güell church. The roof

Abstract

The aim was to provide the Colonia Güell Church with a new roof which was lo be flat. functional and unobtrusive from the outside. Restoration work was subject to the same general criteria as the rest of the building. The article sets out the basic course of action and the process by which the roof was determined. It includes the considerations, studies , doubts and solutions as lo its use; as well as basic structural questions: fundamentally how and on what structural elements should the new roof rest, and other functional questions, such as defining the platform, the access lo the new roof and the ultimate protection of the step sand porch, which is a Gaudi masterpiece. Of special interest is the solution provided for the pavement, where the shape and position of the proposed columns for the upper floor are marked out in a different colour so that visitors can gel an idea of the structural shape of the planned upper floor and imagine the non existent nave. Also the procedure adopted for supporting the new roof, taking advantage of features which were more than strong enough, since they were designed as the supports for the lower nave, which Gaudi had intended lo take the weight of the whole structure, a much heavier load than the new flat roof