Diagnosis of the state of the old Alicante provincial hospital, currently housing the "MARQ" (Alicante archaeological museum)

This study deals with the old Alicante Provincial Hospital building, and aims to determine the systems and materials used in its construction, and their state of preservation. The reason behind this project was to identify the causes of damage found there prior to the intervention that converted it into the Alicante Archaeological Museum (MARQ). To carry out the study, historical information on the building and copies of the original plans were gathered from the Alicante Municipal Archive, Provincial Council and the Institute of Architects. During field work, the building was visited both internally and externally and these visits were used to make graphic records of its current condition. Samples were also taken of the different materials for analysis in the University of Alicante laboratories, using equipment in the Science Faculty and the Higher Polytechnic School. To be more exact, samples of the materials were prepared to undergo physical tests as per RILEM standards (calculation of real density RD And open porosity OP), X-ray diffraction analysis (hereafter XRD), thin sections (hereafter TS) for study in the petrographic microscope and preparations for study in the scanning electron microscope (SEM). In accordance with the data obtained from the study, proposals were made concerning the preservation and repair options available concerning the different elements that formed part of the building and that were to be maintained in the proposed project or, where applicable, replaced. The Museum was restored following the criteria described herein and is now one of Alicante’s flagship buildings, where intervention has allowed an example of obsolete hospital architecture to be converted to a new use