Evaluation of the load-bearing wall design of Edirne Old Harbiye Barracks according to the Turkish Building Earthquake Code (TBEC-2018)

The masonry construction system consists of stone, brick, and mortar, in which the wall element acts as the vertical load load-bearing and generally allows low-rise buildings. The buildings built with this system are mostly seen in rural areas today, but also in traditional and historical textures in city centers. Stone, brick, mortar, etc. used in the masonry construction system. The materials are materials with a low stretching rate but are resistant to pressure. In this case, against the driving force of a possible horizontal load source, the bearing walls will inevitably be damaged because they do not allow sufficient oscillation. In Türkiye, earthquake-resistant building design principles and calculation methods related to the behavior of masonry structures against earthquakes are guiding at this point. Inspecting the masonry structures planned and built in the past in terms of compliance with today's conditions and regulations is important for the sustainability of the structure. Making a building that has a negative profile in terms of compliance with the masonry construction rules is important for both the structure and the health of the user. In this study, the compliance of the load-bearing walls in the architectural design of the old Harbiye Barracks building, which is currently used by the Faculty of Architecture of Trakya University, to the rules regarding the wall design in the current regulation, Türkiye Building Earthquake Code 2018, is investigated. As a result of the study, it was seen that the building showed different suitability in different blocks. While the occupancy-to-space ratio of the b block on the bearing wall is better, it has been determined that the block does not fully comply with the rules.