THE SITUATION

In 2005, four cladding panels fell from a facade of the Hilton Hotel in Rotterdam. Following this, TNO carried out an investigation. The research showed that the anchors behind the travertine panels needed to be replaced, and Vogel was called in. 

At that time there were no ready-made solutions for this. Besides this structural problem, there was also a second issue. This is because the Hilton Hotel is a protected cityscape in Rotterdam. So the repairs could not be a sight work. A custom solution was therefore needed.

THE PROJECT

Vogel, specialist in concrete maintenance engaged B+BTec for this custom work. B+BTec and Vogel already had a long-term cooperation at this point, with B+BTec regularly supplying fasteners to Vogel. A special anchor was designed and produced for this project. This allowed the panels to be reattached without being dismantled and without the new anchors being visible. 

There was also an additional challenge involved. The hotel would remain open as usual during the repairs. Therefore, these repairs had to be carried out with as little inconvenience as possible. To achieve this, Vogel used wet drilling with drills and diamond bits supplied by B+BTec. By wet drilling, there was virtually no inconvenience in the hotel itself.

The final anchoring system was an amalgamation of several existing components that combined with a completely newly developed anchor head. This created a unique new facade renovation system.

THE RESULT

Eventually, the anchors on three sides of the building were replaced. The anchor holes in the travertine slabs were covered with discs of the same material, making the repair work virtually invisible. In fact, Vogel even used the same system in a more recent project which shows that this method is still a very suitable solution today.

Vogel was ultimately very pleased with the cooperation and continues to do business with B+BTec to this day. ''They have engineering capacity and are able to move quickly when we have ideas, to turn that into drawing work and a prototype. Not only do they design it, but they build it all by themselves.'' Says Lennart Mulder, director of Vogel. ''When we are working somewhere on location with 8 to 10 drilling crews and something breaks down, they are there within half a day and it is solved.'' 

Consequently, Vogel finds the cooperation to be very pleasant. ''With the account managers we work with we also just have a very good relationship. If we want something made or have a specific question, we know exactly who we need and they help us perfectly.''

ADVANTAGES:

• Installation without dismantling the facade panels
• Vibration- and dust-free installation
• Virtually invisible finish

PROJECT PARTNERS