# Heritage Decorative Wooden Flooring Restoration—Systemotechnical Approach and Risk Analysis

## TL;DR

This paper presents a system-based approach to restoring historic wooden floors, emphasizing risk analysis and environmental control to preserve authenticity and ensure long-term reliability.

## Contribution

The study introduces a structured, risk-informed systemotechnical framework for heritage wooden floor restoration, demonstrating its effectiveness through a real-world case.

## Key findings

- Risk categories shift during restoration and can be reduced through targeted mitigation.
- Environmental control and early diagnostics are crucial for process reliability and material retention.
- The approach is transferable to other heritage flooring interventions across diverse contexts.

## Abstract

What are the main findings?
A systemotechnical framework was applied to heritage wooden floor restoration.Risk levels evolved across restoration stages and were reduced through targeted mitigation.Environmental control and early diagnostics proved critical to intervention reliability.

A systemotechnical framework was applied to heritage wooden floor restoration.

Risk levels evolved across restoration stages and were reduced through targeted mitigation.

Environmental control and early diagnostics proved critical to intervention reliability.

What are the implications of the main findings?
Risk assessment can function as a dynamic decision-support tool in heritage interiors.Modern materials can be integrated into historic floors under risk-aware planning.The approach is transferable to other heritage flooring interventions.

Risk assessment can function as a dynamic decision-support tool in heritage interiors.

Modern materials can be integrated into historic floors under risk-aware planning.

The approach is transferable to other heritage flooring interventions.

Decorative wooden floorings in heritage interiors require restoration strategies that balance material authenticity, technical reliability, and environmental sensitivity. This study presents a conservation-oriented restoration of a historic parquet floor in the Monastery at Kalwaria Zebrzydowska (Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland), originating from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and focuses on the role of structured risk analysis in technological decision-making. A systemotechnical framework was applied to analyse the restoration as a sequence of interrelated stages governed by material, structural, environmental, technological, and organisational subsystems. Qualitative and semi-quantitative risk classification was integrated with diagnostic investigation, workshop renovation, subfloor reconstruction, reinstallation, and post-intervention monitoring. The results show that dominant risk categories shift across stages and can be progressively reduced through targeted mitigation measures, particularly those addressing moisture variability, material compatibility, and organisational coordination. Early-stage diagnostics combined with active microclimate control proved critical to process reliability and long-term performance, enabling the retention of approximately 85% of the original wooden material. The findings demonstrate the broader applicability of phase-based, risk-informed decision-making in heritage conservation, offering a transferable framework for sustainable restoration of historic wooden floors across diverse cultural and climatic contexts.