Changing building culture: the niu Hub relies on industrially prefabricated installation walls
The name itself says it all: The third the niu hotel in the state capital has been built at Düsseldorf's hub – between the city center, the trade fair center, and the airport. Fittingly, the new building's name is the niu Hub, meaning "pivot point." Connected by a shared lobby, the acora Düsseldorf City Nord Living the City is located in the same building.
© Matthias Ibeler
Construction progress throughout the complex was accelerated through the use of 441 prefabricated installation walls from TECEsystem. Christian Weber of Weber Architekten, responsible for project development and project management, says: "Ever since I discovered prefabricated sanitary systems at a trade fair, I've been convinced of this concept. TECEsystem is ideal for the scale of the project we had at the Düsseldorf hotel complex. The precision fit of the delivered modules was very good, and the entire project execution ran smoothly."
A Changing Culture of Construction
The concept illustrates how the culture of construction is changing. Prefabricated, modular modules reduce planning effort and significantly shorten construction times. A key factor in the design of the construction process was the implementation with prefabricated and fully piped installation walls and shafts. Within the tight schedule, not only were the hotel complex's bathrooms completed with a total of 441 prefabricated installation walls.
These walls were also used in the kitchen, dishwashing area, service station, bar, and buffet areas. The industrially prefabricated modules enabled the rapid expansion of hotel rooms, apartments, and the pantry kitchens. The decisive factor was the many advantages of prefabrication: The finished installation walls already contain all the piping for all media, shut-off devices, as well as soundproofing elements and formwork for the ceiling bulkheads.
Hygienic cisterns automate water exchange
The TECE cisterns installed in them already incorporate the drinking water hygiene flush, which is essential for hotel operations. This programmable flush unit automates regular water exchange in the pipe network when rooms are vacant for extended periods, preventing stagnation and germ growth.
The installation walls and shafts are delivered on demand at the desired time, aligned, and fixed to the building structure. Finally, the pipes are connected. The example installation of a prefabricated installation wall illustrates the importance of rapid construction progress: Delivered at 9:30 a.m., it was already fully installed by 11 a.m.
The hotel complex was designed by the Novum Hospitality hotel group, in cooperation with the owner and developer, Peker Holding. Project management was handled by Ahorn Investment GmbH and RKW Architektur.