Church of S. Bernardino – Ivrea – installation of structural monitoring system

The building, whose foundations can be dated between 1455 and 1465, is part of the eponymous convent complex located within the area that houses the industrial buildings of the Olivetti family, to which the more recent history of the complex is closely linked. After decades of abandonment, the entire convent area was acquired in 1907 by engineer Olivetti, who adapted the convent structure as his private residence and developed the adjacent land into the industrial hub of the famous typewriter brand, taking a visionary approach for the time and initiating activities that would have enduring significance in Italian history.

The church has the typical layout of a conventual hall church, divided into two spaces separated by a central body featuring a magnificent and perfectly preserved cycle of frescoes by Gian Maria Spanzotti, depicting the life of Jesus.

At present, the building shows a complex crack pattern, particularly prominent along the wall supporting the triumphal arch. To assess their severity and detect any significant movements, a static monitoring system (Winecap system) has recently been installed, including six linear extensometers on the main cracks and two wire extensometers measuring the distance between the two longitudinal walls, as well as a remote control unit (gateway).

All instruments (potentiometric extensometers) have a precision of one-hundredth of a millimeter and are capable of acquiring, storing, and wirelessly transmitting data to the control system, allowing continuous remote monitoring on an hourly basis.

This activity is part of a wide restoration and enhancement project of the entire complex, in which our firm is actively involved, coordinated by FAI (Italian Environmental Fund), aimed at creating a museum dedicated to the Olivetti family to share with the public their extraordinary human, cultural, and entrepreneurial story.