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Drechsler Palace renovated with 7500 square metres of cold tiling

Published

2023. 10. 12. 12:03
In addition to the cold tiling, Mapei products were also chosen for the resin terrazzo flooring during the renovation of the Drechsler Palace.

The former Drechsler Palace, a Neo-Renaissance building in the heart of Budapest, is situated opposite the Hungarian State Opera House at Andrássy út, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The building, which has had a chequered history, was designed in 1886 by Ödön Lechner and Gyula Pártos’s designs, but had stood completely empty for the past few decades. Marriott International recognised its potential and, following a complete renovation, opened the exceptionally exciting, five-star W Budapest Hotel to the public in 2023.

The general contractor for the reconstruction project and the company responsible for the plans for the renovation of the historic building and the interior design was DVM Group, whose responsibilities included the restoration of the 16,000 m² property, mechanical and electrical modernisation, and interior design and construction, for which the products of Mapei were also used.

"The building had a lot of historical heritage that needed to be restored to its original state, and the design was based on a lot of old photos and videos. This was coupled with the technical demands of modern age and the requirements of a five-star luxury hotel. Add to this creative, innovative and extreme interior design ideas and the task was not an easy one. But I think the engineering team and subcontractors of DVM Group did a great job, making the W Budapest a worthy match for the recently renovated Hungarian State Opera House opposite"

- said Gábor Szőke, project manager of the DVM Group Kft..

Mapei products have been used by contractors in two areas:

  • 7 500 m2 during cold wrapping, and
  • 1 100 m2 in the construction of historic and contemporary terrazzo floors.

Cold tiling with Mapei products over 7 500 square metres

For the cold tiling, the specialist contractors working on site - BrixEngin Kft., Domino Kft., Karko Bt., Ratskó-Bau Kft., Sedum Kft. and Zsembi Trade Kft. - all used products supplied by Mapei, covering a total area of 7 500 m2, carrying out the following tasks:

  • cold tiling of the bathrooms in a total of 151 hotel rooms on five floors, 45 of which are suites with separate toilets and showers, where floor and wall tiling was also carried out;
  • on the ground floor, the arrival area, the restaurant W LOUNGE and the washrooms are cold-clad in tiles of different sizes, from 2×2 cm mosaic to 100×100 cm floor tiles;
  • on level -1, the cold tiling of the W Budapest AWAY SPA section was carried out using Mapei products, which included the mosaic tiling of the pool, as well as the floor and wall tiling in the wellness area and wet rooms, again in varying sizes, from 2×2 cm mosaic to 100×100 cm floor tiles.

Companies have used many of Mapei's products for cold tiling, with the following being the most widely used:

  • Keraflex Extra S1 adhesive foam,
  • Keracolor FF Flex grout,
  • Mapelastic Aquadefense waterproofing material,
  • Mapeband Easy bending reinforcement tape,
  • Ultraplan Eco indoor socket leveler
  • Adesilex P9 adhesive foam

Historic and contemporary terrazzo flooring, world-class quality

The floors of the building, which is more than 135 years old, have a total of 800 m2 of beautiful terrazzo tiling, which has been restored by Palazzo Kft., a company that has been working on historic and contemporary tiling for 35 years.

As underfloor heating was installed under the cladding - in the spirit of modernisation - cement-bonded material was out of the question, so epoxy terrazzo cladding was chosen, including Mapei MAPEFLOOR products.

And on the ground floor, 300 square metres of contemporary epoxy terrazzo flooring, also underfloor heated, have been completed.

When preparing synthetic resin terrazzo flooring, the experts at Palazzo Kft. use MAPEFLOOR I 910 for the base and MAPEFLOOR I 300 SL epoxy resin was used to prepare the covering. Finally, to protect the finished floor, it was coated several times with MAPELUX LUCIDA glossy wax was applied to the surface several times.

"The reason we use Mapei products to make epoxy terrazzo floors - apart from their high quality - is that we can colour the base resin on site, so we can always produce the colour we use at the time"

- we learned from Robert Kiss (Palazzo Kft.).

During the work, Mapei also provided professional advice when the contractors prepared a special, non-shrink screed substrate under a large surface of terrazzo tiles. This could only be done using wet technology, and Mapei's application engineer helped to measure the residual moisture content of the substrate on site, so they could decide whether the cladding could be started.

"For us, the most important thing in a project like this is that the products that are benchmarked in quality and reliability for our partners are working with the contractors, because the live work they put into this activity is invaluable. This is evidenced by the fact that our colleague from the United Arab Emirates, who has done hundreds of thousands of square metres of resin terrazzo in his work, said he had never seen such beautiful epoxy terrazzo flooring"

- added Sándor Nagy, responsible for the Mapei Kft. product line.

Mapei is proud to have been part of this impressive project, through the products installed and the professional assistance provided, which has resulted in this iconic building regaining its rightful glamour and prominence in the life of Budapest.

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