Roomers Hotels in Germany are individualistic in their architecture and high-design interior styling. And Roomers, in the spa town of Baden-Baden, is no exception. It offers 130 spacious rooms and suites, complemented by a spa area, a rooftop bar with infinity pool and spacious ground floor lobby. The interior design is contemporary and was selected by the German Design Council as its Interior Architecture Award winner for 2018. The hotel is part of an L- shaped reinforced concrete frame building, which also contains a block of fourteen apartments and a medical centre. It is brick faced, finished with a white plaster and has an extremely high building envelope insulation performance.
Preventing thermal bridging and impact sound
Important insulation considerations were the prevention of both thermal bridging and impact sound. Thermal bridging can occur at various connectivity points and in addition to increased seasonal energy usage, low internal surface temperatures below the dewpoint in the area of the thermal bridge can cause condensation. This may result in structural integrity problems with materials such as insulation products or plasterboard. There is also the risk of mould growth, which has potentially serious implications in the form of asthma and allergies. The second insulation requirement involved acoustic comfort for guests, where the prevention of impact sound on the stairways was critical. Although these are unrelated insulation challenges requiring distinctly different solutions, Schöck was able to bring its expertise to both.
Minimising the risk of thermal bridging
There were two areas where thermal bridging might pose a problem. One was the cantilever steel roof of the hotel, where girders connect to the reinforced concrete slab. The other was where the projecting reinforced concrete balconies connect to the concrete frame. Two different Schöck Isokorb load-bearing elements were incorporated to resolve any possible problems. The Isokorb for concrete-to-steel was used for the roof connections, a product designed to solve thermal and structural issues involving steel canopy roofs, steel balconies and façade substructures. For the reinforced concrete balconies, the Isokorb for concrete-to-concrete was incorporated. This is a thermal break for free cantilevered balcony construction and transfers both negative moments and positive shear forces.
Efficient impact sound insulation
A medical centre and an apartment block are part of the same complex as the hotel, with stairs and landings adjacent in that part of the hotel. So it was crucial to negate any possible impact sound travelling into the hotel guest rooms.
Although best known for its Isokorb thermal break range, Schöck has been developing innovative solutions for the impact sound insulation of stairs and landings for over 30 years. Known as Tronsole, this fully integrated system fits both straight and winding staircases and ensures efficient acoustic sound insulation across all structural subsections. The Tronsole system separates the stairs completely from the landing, its elastomer support achieving a performance level far in advance of the requirements currently demanded here in the UK by the relevant sections of the Building Regulations Part E.
Totally verifiable thermal performance
In the UK all Schöck Isokorb thermal break products meet full compliance with the relevant UK building regulations, have NHBC approval and offer LABC Registration. There is also the security of independent BBA Certification. The temperature factor (fRsi value) used to indicate condensation risk, that must be equal to or greater than 0.75 in residential and public buildings, is easily met by incorporating the Isokorb.