Wilmotte suggest to the BBC that a lighter structure of steel beams and titanium panels in place of the oak beams and lead sheeting that were lost could help preserve the structure into the future.
Denis Dessus, president of France’s National Council of the Order of Architects, believes that while the structure could be rebuilt exactly as it was due to thorough documentation, a lighter, more flexible structure, is likely to be used to “allow this cathedral to live for another 10 centuries.”
Reims Cathedral, which burned down during World War One, was restored using a concrete frame that was innovative for its time, and which is now part of the building’s heritage.