ABSTRACT
Across the Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada, steel and concrete systems are frequently used to retrofit unreinforced masonry buildings. In most cases, these systems are designed to supplant existing brick walls and create auxiliary or substitute loadbearing systems for vertical and lateral loads. Such efforts are materially intensive, architecturally invasive and economically costly, making them unsuitable for workaday (non-heritage) buildings that are frequently left vacant or underutilized. Taking an alternative approach to retrofitting, the authors present research focused on existing masonry structures of modest character, which are materially valuable but unlikely to be retrofitted. These anonymous structures account for a large quantity of the material and energy embodied in current building stocks, and extending their service life has substantial benefits from carbon emissions and urban regeneration to urban heritage and housing supply.
