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In downtown Frankfurt, on a breakwater between Westhafen and Main,
there are freehold apartments offering exclusive quality of
lifestyle and location. This project, unique in Europe, contains
four individual twin houses that provide accommodation on 5 stories
above the water. From four-room flats, on one level or as penthouse
maisonettes, to 220 square metre living spaces, this project appeals
primarily to city-dwellers who can afford this level of exclusivity
and who desire a perfect symbiosis between freedom, profession and
exciting city life in immediate proximity to both business and
culture. It is almost self-explanatory that, for the interior décor
of all 60 bathrooms, value was also put on exclusivity: so most of
the bathrooms were created as oases of well-being, individually in
different sizes and colours and with different fittings. A challenge
which the installation team from A.L. Fliesenprofi, in Hanau bei
Frankfurt, set for itself. In the following are presented three of
these temples to well-being that are all of above-average size.
Bathroom 1
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The shower forms a visual centre-piece in
the generously equipped bathroom. In this room, natural stone
and green glass mosaic are mixed. Such a combination opens up
new, individual design possibilities and so, by use of the
different finishes, the bathroom and shower areas are visually
separated from each other. In addition, the natural stone forms
a harmonious transition onto the |
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adjoining parquet flooring in the neighbouring bedroom. So as to
maintain a comfortable feel in the bathroom, warm water underfloor
heating was incorporated. |
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And so that the bathroom will keep its good looks, A. L.
Fliesenprofi set great store on a well thought-out construction
system. Therefore, the cement screed was treated with a dispersion
primer (Fliesengrund), to bind the surface dust, to reduce and
regulate the substrate absorbency and to improve the bond of the
subsequent thin-bed mortar. After a two-coat seal, using a liquid
dispersion sealer (HS
600), the 30 x 60 cm natural stone tiles were laid in quarter
bond formation using a rapid-setting, flexible thin-bed mortar (Stone
Flex). With natural stone, it must always be ensured that, from
the water, no discoloration or efflorescence comes through the
mortar. The substrate must therefore always be tested for residual
moisture (for cement screeds, maximum 2 percent). In addition, the
natural stone adhesive used will protect against unwanted
discoloration, thanks to its rapid-setting performance. After not
less than 24 hours, the natural stone was grouted using a
waterresistant, flexible cement grout mortar in silver grey. During
the work, it was ensure that sufficient movement joints were
provided.
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The green coloured glass mosaics were
also installed with this method on walls and floors. In addition,
between the tiled floors and walls, the connecting and movement
joints were filled with a silver grey, highly flexible, acetate
cross-linking mastic (D
80) that cures to a flexible finish by reaction with the air
humidity.
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The use of glass mosaics, instead of ceramic mosaics, apart from
its individuality, is also a cost factor. However, glass mosaics
offer a distinctiveness, due to their diverse mixtures of colour,
that is very difficult to achieve with ceramics. The size of the
glass tiles installed was 2 x 2 cm and they were bonded to a 30 x 30
cm plastic mesh backing sheet. Whilst, in earlier times, the mosaic
pieces were laid individually into the mortar bed, today, due to the
high cost of time and money, the mosaics are bonded onto backing
sheets that do not need to be removed after fixing into the mortar
bed. Even so, the installation of mosaics is still expensive work,
as the joints between the individual mosaic pieces must be exact, so
as to give a uniform appearance.
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Bathroom 2
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In the black bathroom too, glass tiles
Nuova Zelanda were used, and installed as described above. Here,
however, the workers from A. L. Fliesenprofi grouted the joints
in anthracite. A distinctive feature in this bathroom is the
shower with its |
| floor inlet – here, the
floor, as a structural component exposed to both damp and
wetness, had to be sealed accordingly with two coats of a
flexible, bonded membrane (Flex-Dichtschlämme
NC 220). The shower floor ties in harmoniously with the tile |
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pattern of the main floor –
especially when glass mosaics are used for tiling such surfaces.
Moreover, a floorlevel shower makes for a visual enlargement of
the room space. |
Bathroom 3
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In the third, individual bathroom, the last one
presented here, an enormous whirlpool dominates this oasis of well-being.
For the ceramics, natural stone tiles from China, in a 50 x 50 cm format,
were used. On the walls and around |
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the bath edge, white Kermos ceramics were installed. The moulding
around the bath edge were finished with a 5 centimetre wide stencil.
This width is estimated to be the maximum as, in the curves of the
bathtub, there are no edges or upstands. The varying lengths of the
mouldings add life to the overall picture. Here too, grouting was
with a water-repellent, silver grey grout mortar. |
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A. L. Fliesenprofi AG
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The craftsman organisation, A. L. Fliesenprofi AG, is
the parent company of the A. L. Group to which, in turn, the Starceramic and
Objektceramic companies belong. As the only private limited company in the
tiling business in the Rhein-Main |
region, the company has 28 employees, and many sub-contractors, who ensure the
prompt and professional execution of the work, including large building projects.
The focal point of their activities ranges from standard bathrooms at 2,500 Euro
to luxury bathrooms at 75,000 Euro, as well as from living room flooring to the
major project of an urban railway station. In the future, the company will
specialise in work for the exclusive private
| sector as it sees this as the greatest
opportunity for success. A. L. Fliesenprofi AG reference projects are, for
example, the Hotel Mercure in Frankfurt, the accountancy firm Ernst & Young
AG, Frankfurt, and the Lufthansa training centre in Seeheim-Jugenheim. |
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