Peace and quiet on Berlin’s Alexanderplatz

Bürs (AT), Berlin (DE). In the middle of last year, the largest hotel in the “Hampton by Hilton” chain opened on Berlin’s Alexanderplatz. Its central location in the eastern part of the capital city is not the only benefit: it also lies close to some of the city’s tramway lines. Vibration protection was installed to ensure that noise and vibrations from these are not transferred to the building.

Extensive bedding of buildings is a key aspect of construction projects in capital cities. Where there is a combination of metro tunnels, tramway lines and main traffic networks, measures must be put in place to minimise their impact for residents and hotel guests in adjacent buildings. The structure-borne and secondary airborne noise survey carried out in the planning phase demonstrated the need for elastic bearing in the new “Hampton by Hilton” hotel. The L-shaped building with attached apartment block has 344 rooms on eight floors with 12,200 square metres total floor space. The adjacent tramway lines, as well as the traffic arteries, produce noise and vibration. “The vibration protection measures for the benefit of our hotel guests and residents in the vicinity have been effective: our hotel has now been operating for more than six months and we can say with a fair degree of certainty that our guests are able to enjoy a comfortable stay and undisturbed night's sleep in our centrally located hotel,” explains Marc Schmidt, General Manager of “Hampton by Hilton”.

Emissions requirements met - architectural goals achieved

So that vibrations from the tramway lines are not transferred over ground to the building structure, the hotel was decoupled with a full-surface bearing for buildings. Getzner Sylodyn® mats were laid along the course of the street under the floor slab of the hotel. This prevents the transmission of unwanted vibrations to the building structure.

A challenging feature of this building project was the presence of groundwater: “Sylodyn® mats by Getzner are closed cell and retain their outstanding properties even when used below groundwater level. Alongside quality materials, qualified vibration expertise and professional installation are what guarantee success when implementing these types of measures,” according to Michael Biskup, Project Manager at Getzner. Vibration protection means that the relevant guidelines for (secondary) airborne noise and vibration emissions are being met at the “Hampton by Hilton” hotel. This ensures that hotel guests and people in the surrounding area are not subjected to unnecessary disturbance.