The 25hours Hotel Das Tour - Ever seen bathtubs on balconies?!

Summary 
Project: 25hours Hotel Das Tour 
Products used: HALFEN HIT-MVX Insulated elements 
City: Düsseldorf, Germany 

The new Quartier Central brings French flair to the heart of Düsseldorf. The architecture of the 25hours Hotel Das Tour takes on the role of the head building in the south of the quarter as a landmark. Securely fastened balconies, equipped with French bathtubs, allow hotel guests a relaxed view over the city. 
A striking design element was placed on the south façade facing Louis-Pasteur-Platz: evenly spaced balconies over 13 floors, fitted with French bathtubs. The balconies pick up on the overarching theme of the neighborhood’s German-French mix and, behind a balustrade of glass, invite the visitor to relax in a “somewhat” extroverted way. 

Commissioned by the client ECE Projektmanagement GmbH & Co. KG, HPP Architekten designed a 19-floor hotel divided into three zones with a gross floor area of 12,000 m² (about 7.46 mi) and 200 rooms. Due to the height of the building and its representative significance, both the planners and the client attached immense importance to an all-view façade without rear sides. Therefore, the load bearing, clearly gridded perforated façade was designed to be the same on all sides. Thanks to the regular structure of the metal façade, the aluminum panels could be serially manufactured and installed. The hotel was designed in filigree construction with flat ceilings. There are four large columns in the ceiling grid, whose punching shear load capacity is ensured with HDB shear rails. 

The individual zones of the gridded façade reflect the design of the interior spaces. The base zone extends over two floors and houses the lobby and seminar rooms. Large glass surfaces enable communication between inside and outside and offer a view of the adjacent park. In the lobby, the German and French cultures mix with each other even further. The overarching theme of the Tour de France runs like a red thread through the entire hotel. In addition, the furniture in the entrance area is reminiscent of French street cafés.

The standard floors form the central and, at the same time, the largest part of the building with the accommodation rooms on floors 2 to 14. In this area, clearly defined window openings dominate the façade grid. Framed by slanted reveals, they are both a design element and functional, in that they make the openings appear larger than they are.

The 15th floor marks the demarcation from the building's central zone in the form of a slightly recessed, darker joint. The crown of the building hosts the restaurant and the hotel bar, which is frequently frequented by non-hotel guests. The culinary specialty: all the drinks, even the beer, come from France. These two final floors allow a view as far as Cologne thanks to the full glazing. 

The balconies were fixed with HALFEN HIT-MVX insulated elements from Leviat. The new connections allow for unusual geometries, such as those of the 25hours Hotel Das Tour, and transmit high shear forces and bending moments. In the case of element panels in the corner area, they manage without an additional recess on the ceiling side. The HIT Insulated connections used consist of classic tension rods and innovative red CSB bearings made of fiber-reinforced high-performance mortar. The bearings replace interfering compression bars on the underside of the elements and the transverse bars and ensure quick and safe installation. The on-site reinforcement is ensured by the single layer HIT bars. In accordance with DIN 4108-2 and EnEv, the HIT-MVX insulated elements reduce thermal bridges and minimize energy losses.