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New building project at the historic heart of Dresden is benefiting from up-to-date technology: Schütz panel heating in shops, offices, restaurants and hotels in the attractive 'QF' - Quartier Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady Quarter).
Dresden (hds). – With the rebuilding of the Frauenkirche, which so many people had vehemently supported since Germany's reunification, the old Dresden city centre has also experienced a real renaissance around the Neumarkt (New Market). An evident indication of this is on the one hand the crowds of people that are to be encountered on the Neumarkt since then. However the bustling activity in the narrow radius around the most famous landmark substantiates the newly achieved attractiveness achieved at the centre of Saxony's state capital. Little by little, the city's architecture is beginning to resemble the municipal architecture that older citizens still remember and which can still be admired on surviving postcards from the years before 1945. The declared aim is contemporary revitalization of the city centre whilst taking into account all historical aspects.
High-tech on old foundations
Attracted and at the same time inspired by the atmosphere, a German architect and an Italian businessman set to work. Kai von Döring and Arturo Prisco applied to be the developers, were granted the contract and founded Quartier an der Frauenkirche GmbH. In 2002, work started and by the end of September 2006 the official opening of the 'QF' was celebrated. Originally planned to sit on old foundations, the excavated cellars, the catastrophic flooding of 2002 completely ruined these plans. In order that history nevertheless finds its expression, some ten percent of these old stones were retained. These will later be integrated into the building in accordance with the wishes of tenants.
QF: History and modernity at the same time
Just how much history and modernity are entwined with regard to the QF can be gained from Oliver Gaber, branch manager for HSG Technischer Service GmbH in Leipzig. Amongst other matters, his team had to provide a hotel with initially, i.e. in the first building phase, underfloor heating for 68 rooms and suites, 30 commercial units - from shops to restaurants, plus 40 apartments of 55 to 150 square metres. Between February and September 2006, HSG laid just about 7,300 square metres of tacker system and some 44 kilometres of PE-Xa pipework for an underfloor heating system at the cutting edge of technology.
Work flexibly now –
heat economically later
The specialists from Bilfinger & Berger's subsidiary employed on the QF project a tacker system for panel heating systems supplied by Schütz Energy Systems. "Particularly for hotel floor spaces or rooms in regular active use, such as hairdressing salons, cafés or restaurants, a modern underfloor heating system offers advantages for the user. This system has in the meantime become accepted to the extent that today almost no new premises are built without an underfloor heating system. A building such as the QF, through which hundreds of people pass every day or live there permanently, naturally requires a particularly resilient product. Here then, we took a deliberate decision in favour of this tacker system, since it stands up to particularly high footfall traffic and offers the best possible heat and footfall insulation", Gaber summarizes. "Quite evidently, for the investors the aspect of a durable and economical heating facility was of course also to the fore. In any case we took this into account.“ A further crucial factor was the collaboration with Schütz's planning department. Despite the numerous - and in part very short-term - structural changes, co-operation was outstanding. As a result of the extremely dynamic letting process, even in the final stages of construction new tenants also came along almost daily to HSG with new individual requirements for floor design. A lot of things had to be quickly adapted to amended requirements and the rooms’ geometry. However even that – according to Gaber - functioned without any hitches and within a very short time.
Increasing desire for professional solutions
"Particularly for living and business properties of luxury standard, whose owners and users place great value on even room temperatures, panel heating has in the meantime become indispensable", Norbert Potthoff, Sales Manager for Schütz Energy Systems, confirms. Technicians demand nowadays from manufacturers rapid and flexible solutions that do not put too much of a strain on the viability of financing a property. Of course here and along with increased technical requirements, even quite simple basic costs for the trades were of crucial importance. The rapid transport and the uncomplicated storage of building materials are just as important as simple and quick laying. Potthoff: "A time advantage on a building site is in terms of business always linked to a cost advantage. Reliability of the product and its attendant processes brings us satisfied customers of course – and now and then even quite special projects, such as the 'Quarter' next to Dresden's Frauenkirche..."
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