An engineering challenge

The story of the Reformed Center in Timisoara

The spectacular Reformed Center in Timișoara, recently inaugurated, impresses with the organic architecture, the creation of the famous Imre Makovecz. Less well known is the story of the creation of the Center and especially the engineering challenges faced by the team that designed and built the complex, led by Prof. eng. Tamas Nagy Gyorgy, PhD, professor and researcher at Politehnica University Timișoara.

Precisely to present the entire "adventure" of the accomplishment of the impressive construction, Politehnica Foundation organized on Wednesday, March 4, 2020, the conference with the theme "The Timisoara Reformed Center - an engineering challenge", given by Tamas Nagy Gyorgy. He presented, during the conference, the main challenges, from an engineering point of view, which he faced in the creation of the Center, starting from the one of continuing, to the current standards, a construction started 20 years ago, to particular details, apparently minor, such as wind resistance or main chandelier support. The great accomplishment was to find solutions to problems that seemed impossible at first sight, in many cases applying new technical solutions, for the first time considering that the requirements were very stringent, both in terms of quality, materials and execution or energy efficiency, as well as accuracy and deadlines. Finding contractors, as well as their coordination, was also a big challenge, given that over 20 companies, from the construction ones to the furniture ones, worked simultaneously to complete the construction to term.

The Reformed Center in Timisoara was inaugurated 20 years after the foundation stone was laid and 30 years after the beginning of the anti-communist uprisings in Maria Square. The New Millennium Reformed Complex, from Fabric neighborhood is designed as a true cultural and ecumenical center, consisting of two wings (community spaces, exhibition halls, meeting rooms, guest rooms, Honorary Consulate of Hungary etc.), the central church, a concert hall and a conference center (to be built in 2020). The central dome of the church has a height of 30 meters, and inside are about 500 seats, on benches.